Faster fifth-gen Apple TV to enter production in early 2016
According to a recent report out of Taiwan, Apple is planning on beginning trial production of a new, fifth-generation Apple TV device in early 2016.
Better, faster, strongerThe news comes from DigiTimes (via MacRumors), a hit-and-miss publication that sometimes delivers accurate reporting on Apple’s supply chain. According to the report, the fifth-generation Apple TV is expected to include a brand new CPU that should “dramatically improve the device’s hardware performance,” resulting in a faster, more power efficient set-top box.
Undisclosed ‘new functions’The report also adds that, in addition to the revamped CPU, the next-generation Apple TV is also expected to gain “new functions,” though DigiTimes doesn’t provide further details on what these new functions are, or what they might relate to. The current-generation Apple TV offered users a native App Store, a Siri remote, and an all-round enhanced experience thanks to the on-board operating system, tvOS.
In terms of the new device’s release, DigiTimes doesn’t elaborate or commit to a timeframe. Yet, given that the current-generation Apple TV arrived in October, it could be that Cupertino is planning a yearly hardware update for the device (much like its release cycle for the iPhone and iPad).
This, of course, would see a fifth-generation Apple TV launch in October 2016.
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For now, we have a while to wait before more concrete details concerning a next-generation Apple TV surface online. And of course, there’s a lot of room for the current model to further develop, particularly through the addition of new applications (including Amazon Video, a native Podcasts app, and music apps like Spotify). As a new platform, developers have been scrambling to bring their iOS applications to tvOS in a meaningful, usable way. As such, given the infancy of the platform, the Apple TV experience is only going to get better over time.
We’ll keep you posted with more news as we receive it.