It has been nearly two years since the Apple TV last received a hardware upgrade, so you may be wondering when a new model will be released.
Below, we recap rumors about a next-generation Apple TV.
In January 2023, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that a new Apple TV was planned for release in the first half of 2024:
Beyond the future smart displays and new speaker, Apple is working on revamping its TV box. A new version with the current design is in the works for the first half of next year with a faster processor, the people said.
The first half of 2024 passed by without a new Apple TV, so that rumor has expired.
Earlier this month, Gurman said "stable inventory" of the Apple TV suggested that a new model was not on the "immediate horizon" after all:
While the company has been working on an update to the Apple TV set-top box for as early as this year, no new model has come to fruition and stable inventory of the device suggests a new version isn’t on the immediate horizon.
In other words, it is now unclear when the next Apple TV will be announced.
Here is when the previous five Apple TV models were announced:
- Third-generation Apple TV 4K: October 2022
- Second-generation Apple TV 4K: April 2021
- First-generation Apple TV 4K: September 2017
- Apple TV HD: September 2015
- Third-generation Apple TV: March 2012
Whenever it comes out, the next Apple TV is rumored to feature a faster processor than the current A15 Bionic chip, and even lower pricing. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested that the next Apple TV could have a sub-$100 starting price. In the U.S., the current Apple TV is available with 64GB or 128GB of storage for $129 and $149, respectively.
No major design changes have been rumored for the next Apple TV specifically, but Gurman said Apple has considered adding a built-in camera to a future model. tvOS 17 added a FaceTime app to the Apple TV, allowing for users to have video calls by using the rear camera on a connected iPhone or iPad. If the Apple TV gained a built-in camera, users would no longer need to rely on an external device for video calls on the TV.
Read our Apple TV roundup for more details.
