Apple is preparing to launch a refreshed version of the Apple TV, according to a new report from 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman.
The Cupertino-based company will reportedly announce the device at the same event where it plans to unveil the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. Moreover, the device is said to be a significant upgrade over its predecessor.
First and foremost, unlike previous iterations of the Apple TV, the new media player will run a TV-optimizated version of iOS. This means, among other things, that the Apple TV will finally get its own section within the iTunes App Store; Apple will ship a new version of the iOS SDK that will allow developers to create apps for the device. In addition, the new Apple TV will feature a refreshed, more iOS-like user interface that will take advantage of some of the upcoming features in iOS 9, including the improvements Apple has planned for system-wide search. As a result, the device will finally be able to search for content across multiple sources at the same time, says the report.
To accommodate all these new features, the micro-console will feature a more powerful set of internal components. 9to5Mac, citing two unnamed sources, says that the device will feature a dual-core version of Apple’s recent A8 processor, which, as it notes, is a major upgrade from the single core A5 found within the current model. Moreover, it will include somewhere between 1GB and 2GB of RAM, as well as at least 32GB of internal storage. It’s also possible that there will be models with larger storage.
In addition, each new Apple TV will ship with a re-designed remote. The new remote is said to include a new set of more tactile buttons, and support for both touch and gesture inputs. The inclusion of the latter feature has led 9to5Mac to speculate that app developers will be use the remote as a controller in any games they may decide to develop. Moreover, based on files included in the El Capitan beta, it seems that remote will include some sort of audio technology. 9to5Mac speculates, based on information from its sources, that the remote will include a microphone to allow Apple TV users to use Siri to operate the device.
There are a lot more details included in the original report, so make sure to head on over to 9to5Mac.
[source]9to5Mac[/source]
