5 upgrades Amazon cannot afford to skip on the subsequent Hearth TV Stick 4K Max

I have been utilizing the second-generation Fire TV Stick 4K Max interchangeably on my front room TV and my monitor for some time now, and it is turn out to be a staple of my streaming setup. I just like the person interface, reveals and flicks look nice in 4K HDR, and its Wi-Fi 6E connection ensures buffer-free streaming. Nonetheless, with Amazon just lately asserting the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, it’s got me considering so much about what the next-generation Hearth TV Stick 4K Max may and may have.

Amazon final up to date the Hearth TV Stick 4K Max in September 2023, so it has been two years since its final refresh. With Amazon launching its new working system, Vega OS, alongside the 4K Choose, I’ve little question {that a} refresh of the 4K Max with Vega OS is coming quickly. Every time Amazon decides it is time, listed here are the 5 upgrades I imagine the next-generation Hearth TV Stick 4K Max must should be definitely worth the wait and folks’s cash.

USB-C is an absolute should for the subsequent Hearth TV Stick 4K Max

Micro USB is a relic of the previous

Even when Amazon launched the present technology Hearth TV Stick 4K Max in 2023, many individuals, together with myself, questioned why the corporate continued to make use of Micro USB on its high-end streaming stick. USB-C was already widespread on each Android telephone again then, in addition to on laptops, and even the iPhone had simply switched to utilizing it.

Quick-forward to 2025, and Micro USB stays as outdated because it was in 2023. When Amazon seemingly updates the Hearth TV Stick 4K Max quickly, it ought to change to USB-C as an alternative of Micro USB. First, USB-C is extra common and helps a lot sooner knowledge switch and higher energy supply than Micro USB. Second, USB-C is way simpler to attach as a result of it really works whatever the manner you plug it in, in contrast to Micro USB, which solely suits in a technique. Moreover, USB-C helps sooner Ethernet speeds, so in case you use an Ethernet adapter together with your Hearth TV Stick, you might expertise considerably improved obtain speeds.

Elevated and upgraded RAM for higher efficiency

3GB or 4GB of RAM can go a great distance on a streaming stick

The present Hearth TV Stick 4K Max is provided with 2GB of RAM, and I imagine the next-generation 4K Max would profit considerably from extra RAM. Am omcrease to 3GB can be first rate, however a extra sizable bump to 4GB can be even higher. Extra RAM would merely assist with operating extra apps, multitasking, and managing background processes, finally making a smoother streaming expertise.

Moreover, not solely would extra RAM be helpful, however sooner RAM would additionally give the subsequent Hearth TV Stick 4K Max a good higher edge. The 2GB of RAM it is geared up with now could be LPDDR4, which has been outdated for some time. In the event you’re questioning what LPDDR stands for, it is Low-Energy Double Knowledge Price reminiscence, a standard kind of RAM utilized in smartphones and streaming units attributable to its compactness, pace, and energy effectivity. Most flagship telephones now function LPDDR5, which is quicker and extra environment friendly than LPDDR4, and this improve would give the next-generation Hearth TV Stick 4K Max that additional enhance in efficiency it wants.

A extra succesful processor

Vega OS could also be environment friendly, however Amazon ought to nonetheless improve the 4K Max’s processing energy regardless

If Amazon intends for the next-generation Hearth TV Stick 4K Max to be the most effective streaming stick in the marketplace when it launches, it must be geared up with a extra highly effective processor. The present Hearth TV Stick 4K Max includes a quad-core MediaTek processor with speeds of as much as 2.0 GHz. Based mostly on my streaming expertise with it, I would not describe it as sluggish, however I additionally would not name it blazing quick both.

The Hearth TV Stick 4K and 4K Choose each function a quad-core MediaTek processor with speeds of as much as 1.7 GHz, so the distinction between them and the 4K Max is not substantial in any respect. Clearly, as a result of dimension constraints of a streaming stick, and to maintain the fee affordable, I am not saying the Hearth TV Stick 4K Max wants the efficiency of an Apple TV 4K, however I feel a notable bump in processing energy to make the Hearth TV Stick 4K Max really feel extra snappy would go a great distance in convincing folks to improve. Moreover, if Alexa+ and AI are going to turn out to be a bigger a part of the Hearth TV expertise, then that additional processing energy may go a great distance in making these options really really feel clean and responsive.

Amazon is already saying that because of its new working system, Vega OS, apps will launch “remarkably quick” on the Hearth TV Stick 4K Choose, and that Vega is “responsive and extremely environment friendly.” If these claims are true, that is nice, however I hope Amazon does not use Vega OS as an excuse to cop out on significant {hardware} upgrades. Software program optimizations can solely take you up to now.

Barely modify the design

Make the Hearth TV Stick 4K Max stand out

When Amazon launched the second-generation (and present) Hearth TV Stick 4K Max in 2023, it adopted a rounder design in comparison with the boxier look of the first-generation mannequin. I am not suggesting Amazon must utterly overhaul the design of the next-generation Hearth TV Stick 4K Max, however a small design tweak may go a great distance in serving to it stand out throughout the lineup.

Presently, the Hearth TV Stick 4K, 4K Choose, and 4K Max all look the identical. If Amazon made the 4K Max extra distinctive — maybe with a unique form, materials, or shade — it may enhance its visible enchantment and assist scale back the confusion customers have with the Hearth TV Stick lineup by clearly distinguishing its premium streaming stick from the others.

Storage enhance and Wi-Fi 7

Upgrades that can make the subsequent Hearth TV Stick 4K Max extra future-proof

That is the improve I feel is least prone to be anticipated from the next-generation Hearth TV Stick 4K Max, however I imagine it could nonetheless be a pleasant addition both manner. Presently, the Hearth TV Stick 4K Max has 16GB of storage, which is double the 8GB discovered within the 4K and 4K Choose fashions. For its next-generation Hearth TV Stick 4K Max, I feel that if Amazon elevated the storage to 32GB, it could ease most individuals’s worries about operating out of cupboard space and allow them to obtain extra apps and video games.

Moreover, whereas the 4K Max already options pretty quick Wi-Fi 6E capabilities, if Amazon added Wi-Fi 7 to it, it could make the connection speeds even sooner, extra dependable, and make it extra future-proof as soon as it will definitely launches.

When will the brand new Hearth TV Stick 4K Max come out?

Whereas Amazon introduced the Hearth TV Stick 4K Choose at its current fall {hardware} occasion, there was no indication or tease about when a brand new Hearth TV Stick 4K Max is likely to be coming. One of many key options of the Hearth TV Stick 4K Choose is that it runs a brand new Linux-based working system, Vega OS, which Amazon has reportedly been creating for a number of years. This differs from all the opposite Hearth TV Sticks, which run Hearth OS, an Android-based working system that Amazon has used on its Hearth TV lineup for over ten years.

Undoubtedly, a Vega OS model of the Hearth TV Stick 4K Max might be launched finally, however the timeframe for that is not precisely sure, and there have been no concrete leaks on when it may very well be. I feel it’s because Amazon is utilizing the Hearth TV Stick 4K Choose as a testbed for Vega OS. I imagine as soon as Vega OS is additional developed and tweaked based mostly on folks’s suggestions concerning the 4K Choose, it would then launch a brand new 4K Max with Vega OS. So it may nonetheless be some time earlier than that occurs, however given the second-generation 4K Max on cabinets proper now could be already two years previous, I discover it exhausting to imagine Amazon will not launch a brand new 4K Max someday in 2026.