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Is Apple TV finally ripe for a major upgrade?
Sarah Tew/CNET
Apple is reportedly readying the next edition of its Apple TV with App Store and Siri support, but you may have to pay a higher price for the new features.
Expected to be unveiled at Apple’s September 9 event, the new version of the Apple TV will sell for a starting price of $149 or $199, 9to5Mac said on Sunday, citing information from anonymous sources. Said to be going on sale in October, the new box would cost a lot more than the current model Apple TV , which now sells for $69 and initially launched for $99.
Apple did not immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment on the report.
Apple TV competes with other set-top boxes such as the Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Google’s Android TV as a way to stream video content from services such as Netflix and Hulu. Apple’s device also lets you watch videos from the iTunes store on your TV, but the Roku 3 is considered by many to be the cream of the crop as it offers voice search and a headphone jack for private listening. And Apple TV has been getting long in the tooth since it hasn’t gotten a major upgrade since 2012. So how can Apple rival the Roku?
Though the price may be higher, the next-generation Apple TV will add several new features to justify the cost, according to 9to5Mac’s sources. First up is integration with Siri, Apple’s voice assistant. Presumably, you’d be able to search for content and run certain tasks by speaking your request to Siri. Next would be an App Store with a software development kit available for developers who want to create apps for the device, 9to5Mac said. Also on tap would be a new remote control as well as a revamped user interface, the Apple news blog added.
Oh, and one more thing. Apple may finally launch its own streaming TV service to offer multiple TV channels in a package priced as low as $40 per month. Reports have long been floating about that Apple is trying to cook up deals to bundle such a service into Apple TV. But the company has allegedly run into one major stumbling block trying to sign up content providers: At issue is how much Apple would charge for such a service so that all parties involved would make a profit.
A $40-per-month price would give the content providers a healthy profit, JP Morgan analyst Rod Hall said on Monday. However, it wouldn’t leave much of a profit for Apple. But a monthly subscription priced higher than $40 would put the package at a less competitive price point, Hall added. For now, the new Apple TV would launch without the subscription service as Apple continues to try to hash out deals with the content providers.
And for those of you unwilling to shell out $149 or $199, the third-generation Apple TV will still be around and it will receive a software update. It won’t gain support for the App Store or Siri, 9to5Mac’s sources said, but it will be able to tap into Apple’s streaming subscription service whenever that arrives.
