There’s a new Apple TV on the way. Per these FCC documents, the new model is physically slightly smaller and as noted by TheNextWeb, rocks an A5X SoC. With the faster core, the new model should provide a better user experience with a smoother UI and improved app performance. Plus, with the recent Apple TV update that added a bunch of features, it seems the Apple is about to make another assault on the living room.
In traditional FCC fashion, the documents fail to reveal anything tantalizing about the upcoming model. There’s no mention of additional capabilities over the current model — nothing about Siri, motion control or anything hinting that this is something special. Without additional information, this model looks like an exercise in supply chain management rather than reinventing the Apple TV experience.
It only makes sense for Apple to move the Apple TV onto the A5X, the same chip used in the third-generation iPad. It had to happen sometime. As Apple moves other products off the 32 nm A5 chip, it cannot forget its little hobby in the Apple TV.
The revised 32 nm A5 chip is still used in the iPad 2, iPad mini, and the latest iPod touch. But with the exception of the evergreen iPod touch, the other two are set for changes sooner versus later. The iPad 2 will be cut from the team while Apple will likely release an upgraded iPad mini with an A5X to allow the hot little tablet to keep up with iOS revisions.
Apple has long treated the Apple TV as a so-called hobby. But even though the company doesn’t treat it as a pillar of its business, the Apple TV remains the company’s best path into consumers’ living rooms. During its Q1 2013 conference call last week, the company revealed that it sold 2 million Apple TVs during the holiday quarter, an increase of 60 percent over the previous year.
There’s no word on when this new model will hit stores. But chances are, since it passed through the U.S. government wireless gatekeepers, it will be in the near future — maybe as soon as this week.