No surprises here: At today’s event in San Francisco, Apple announced a reworked version of its Apple TV set-top box. The hardware is new, the prices are new, and how you interact with the device is new. Most importantly, there will be all kinds of new apps for the device, available through an Apple TV-centric App Store and stocked with games and goods from third-party developers.
This will be the first device with its sights set on bringing an iOS-like experience into the living room. The new tvOS, which is based on iOS and allows developers to create games and other apps using tools such as Xcode and Metal, is based on iOS but "built for the living room," according to Apple senior vice president of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue. The tvOS developer beta is available today, and the new box will be available in late October.
“TV plays a huge role in our lives and occupies an important place in our homes,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook at today's event. "(But) the experience hasn’t changed that much in decades. It’s been standing still while innovation has been thriving in the mobile space with the iPhone and iPad... The future of TV is apps.”
The iOS 9-based Apple TV platform and its wider swath of apps aren’t the only similarities with the company’s mobile devices. Siri now plays a huge role in Apple TV. It has universal voice-search functionality across iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, and Showtime, and it also lets users filter down existing search results by recognizing contextual spoken commands. You can also bring up weather, sports scores, and other info by just asking Siri for it.
The included remote gets a massive overhaul, with a glass touchpad on the top half of it for navigating onscreen menus. It connects to the Apple TV box via Bluetooth 4.0, meaning you don't have to point it directly at the box.
Onstage demos of the remote appeared smooth and incredibly fast. There's no onscreen pointer or slow toggling from menu item to menu item: With a quick swipe, you can scroll through several tiles of movies or TV shows. There's also a 3D effect when you move you finger around on the touchpad while a movie icon is selected.
Under the touchpad, there's a menu button, an input-switching button, a Siri microphone button, volume controls, and a play/pause button. It has an accelerometer and a gyroscope inside for using it as a Wii-style motion controller, and Apple claims it gets three months of battery life per charge. You recharge it via a Lightning connector on the bottom of it.
Apple is touting games as a huge part of the new app ecosystem. At today’s event, Harmonix and Hipster Whale showcased a new Wii-like "Beat Sports" game and a multiplayer version of "Crossy Road" for the new set-top platform. New apps for Gilt Groupe and MLB.tv were also showcased at the event.
While games are a big focus, they’re far from the only draw. Like previous iterations of the Apple TV, the new box will provide big-screen access to Apple Music, let you cast content from other Apple devices via AirPlay mirroring, and view your photo library (as well as fancy new moving high-definition screensavers).
While the box itself looks the same—it's just 10mm taller, packs an A8 chip, and has power, HDMI, and Ethernet ports around the back—all those extra features come at a price.
While the last-generation Apple TV got a price cut from $99 to $69 at the Apple Watch event earlier this year, the new hardware will start at more than twice that price. The 32GB version of the new Apple TV will sell for $149 beginning in October, while the higher-capacity 64GB option will go for $199. The last-generation Apple TV will remain on shelves at $69.
