The next Apple TV will be used for more than just watching streaming movies and TV shows, with apps and games supported using a new touchpad remote. But one thing it won’t be is as cheap as the previous generation.
It’s almost been two months since Apple first showed what was coming for its Apple TV, and if you’ve been waiting for a replacement to Apple’s home entertainment appliance, chances are you’ve been just waiting for the days to tick by.
The new device will be a little bigger and a lot more powerful, but still count as a generation of Apple TV, as Apple attempts to reinvent its small hockey puck media player to be a little more like an iPad or iPhone, delivering more than just apps that deliver streaming media and actually do something else.
Inside the Apple TV, you’ll find one of Apple’s A8 processors, similar to what Apple previously used in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus mobile handsets, with a lighter interface sitting on a new operating system called “tvOS”.
You can think of this as Apple’s proper take on the TV market, because while the current generation of Apple TV made not-so-smart TVs a little brighter, this will deliver apps and games, among other things, to smart TVs that can merely just grab streaming media, making them smarter again.
However, applying a boost of skills and intellect doesn’t come without a cost, and Apple TV will definitely incur that, because while the previous generation of Apple TV started at $109 and will still be sold (as far as we understand), the new generation will cost at least $269 and as much as $349.
That lower price of for the 32GB option, while the 64GB version double the storage, meaning more ability to install big apps, games, and potentially download movies and music to the device, which would be a first for the Apple TV.
We’ll be sure to review this when it comes out, which is actually due next week, but for now if you want an Apple TV to do a little more than simply streaming media, be prepared to pony up for it.
