The next-gen Apple TV 4K could feature some nifty new bells and whistles.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and the rumor mill, the next-generation Apple TV 4K is expected to be released next year. The device is expected to feature a faster processor than the current A15 Bionic chip. While it’s unclear which chip will be used, but possibilities include the A16 Bionic chip from the iPhone 14 Pro or the upcoming A17 Bionic chip, which is expected to be manufactured based on TSMC’s latest 3nm process for significant performance and power efficiency improvements.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has chimed in, stating he expects the next Apple TV to be “more affordable” than the current model, and perhaps moving into a “sub-$100 price” would be the “sweet spot” for the Apple TV. The exact pricing for the next model remains to be seen.
Both the second-generation (2010) and third-generation (2012) versions of the Apple TV were priced at $99 in the U.S. at launch, and Apple eventually lowered the price of the third-generation model to $69, so there is precedent for a sub-$100 Apple TV that would better compete with low-priced streaming devices sold by Google, Amazon, and Roku.
The current-gen Apple TV 4K already starts at a lower price of $129 in the U.S., compared to $179 for the previous-generation model.
Gurman has also stated that the next-gen Apple TV 4K’s case is likely to remain the same given that the A15 Bionic chip’s increased power efficiency allowed for the fan to be removed. This resulted in the device having a more compact design, around 12 percent thinner and around 50 percent lighter than the previous model.
The rumor mill has hypothesized that the next Apple TV could appear in the first half of 2024, although no specific timeframe is known at this point. Previous models of the Apple TV 4K were launched in November 2022, May 2021, and September 2017.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.