Apple Introducing New Apple TV Box in April for Holiday Launch, Still Talking With Time Warner Cable

Apple is planning to introduce a new Apple TV set-top box in April according to Bloomberg, but the report says Apple would not begin selling the box for months. Apple is also in talks with content providers including Time Warner Cable to provide TV shows and other media. The new box is said to include an upgraded processor and a revamped interface. The current Apple TV UI is getting a bit unwieldy as the company has continued to add new content channels over the past year.

Time Warner has been in talks with Apple for well over a year and the company has said it would be willing to give control of the customer-facing user interface over to Apple. Bloomberg reported last July that Apple and Time Warner were close to a deal.

apple_tv_2012_interface

Apple is aiming to have the device available for sale by the Christmas holidays, though the release date could change because the company is still in the process of securing new agreements with programming and distribution partners, said two people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private.

Earlier this week, a reference to new Apple TV hardware was discovered in a recent release of iOS 7 and rumors have suggested that a new Apple TV could see added support for apps and Bluetooth game controllers in the next few months. At the end of January, the Apple TV received new prominence on the Apple Online Store, suggesting the platform could be developing into more than just a "hobby".

The long delay between the introduction of the new Apple TV box and its public launch would be unusual for Apple, which prefers to announce and release products in a short time period. Apple has only had long lead times between announcement and release for major new product releases -- the iPhone debuted six months before it's public launch owing to the unique FCC permitting process for new cell phones, and the iPad was presented more than two months before it first went on sale. The new Mac Pro was previewed six months before its final release as well.

It's possible that Apple will introduce a new App Store platform for the Apple TV, with the delay giving developers time to build new apps for the device.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

Popular Stories

iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iOS 26 Screens

Here Are All the iOS 26 Features That Require iPhone 15 Pro or Newer

Thursday June 12, 2025 4:53 am PDT by
With iOS 26, Apple has introduced some major changes to the iPhone experience, headlined by the new Liquid Glass redesign that's available across all compatible devices. However, several of the update's features are exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, since they rely on Apple Intelligence. The following features are powered by on-device large language models and machine...
CarPlay Liquid Glass Dark

Apple to Let iPhone Users Watch Videos on CarPlay Screen While Parked

Thursday June 12, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple this week announced that iPhone users will soon be able to watch videos right on the CarPlay screen in supported vehicles. iPhone users will be able to wirelessly stream videos to the CarPlay screen using AirPlay, according to Apple. For safety reasons, video playback will only be available when the vehicle is parked, to prevent distracted driving. The connected iPhone will be able to...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Hate iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design? Here's How to Tone It Down

Wednesday June 11, 2025 4:22 pm PDT by
iOS 26 features a whole new design material that Apple calls Liquid Glass, with a focus on transparency that lets the content on your display shine through the controls. If you're not a fan of the look, or are having trouble with readability, there is a step that you can take to make things more opaque without entirely losing out on the new look. Apple has multiple Accessibility options that ...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...

Top Rated Comments

Caliber26 Avatar
148 months ago
please stop announcing products months before shipment. its just annoying.

I don't mean to sound rude, but why do you come on MacRumors? This site mostly focuses on news and rumors of future products that are not confirmed by Apple.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OllyW Avatar
148 months ago
great news

Only if you live in the USA. :(
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kwikdeth Avatar
148 months ago
please stop announcing products months before shipment. its just annoying.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BJMRamage Avatar
148 months ago
haha...
April Fools
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
osx11 Avatar
148 months ago
a la carte is a dream, abandon all hope

disney, discovery, viacom and every other content owner tells the cable companies to buy all their channels or don't offer them. best you can get is smaller bundles of channels that i'm seeing on cablevision now

Or just change habits, and watch free 1080i OTA channels. You get local channels, plus NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX all in HD for $0.00/month. And everything else you can probably do something more useful than watching TV. Like reading a book, being with your family, playing board games with kids, getting some exercise, etc......
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tommyboy21 Avatar
148 months ago
Announcing in April for a "Holiday" (end of year) release?!? Something sounds fishy to me.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)