Apple has been gearing up to launch a redesigned Apple TV to go with its rumored streaming service, and a new report claims the new black box will also include a redesigned TV remote with a trackpad.
According to the New York Times, Apple is planning to launch its new TV box with the remote this summer.
“The remote control will gain a touch pad and also be slightly thicker than the current version,” says the New York Time’s source at Apple who was briefed on the product. Two physical buttons will accompany the touch pad that can be used for scrolling around.
The extra thickness being added to the remote will make it comparable in size to Amazon’s remote for the Echo. Adding a trackpad would be the biggest change to hit the Apple remote since it debuted with the Apple TV in 2007. The simplistic remote has been used in case study’s at Apple University, highlighting how Apple designers stripped down the TV remote to the most essential elements. Despite its perfect simplicity, it’ll be much quicker to navigate through Apple’s growing content lineup with a little Force Touch Magic Trackpad.
Full details of the new Apple TV and its accompanying streaming service will supposedly be announced at WWDC in June. A redesign of the Beats Music service is also expected to be announced at the event, along with previews of iOS 9 and OS X 10.11.
Source: NYT
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
8 responses to “Apple TV remote is getting a trackpad this summer”
App or web interface damn it, remotes can be lost and they are usually confusing. :/
I remember seeing that touch mock up a long time ago and I guess the guy that made it got hired by Samsung cuz it looks a lot like the Galaxy s6 edge ..either that samsungs designers stole that too
Bogus report from NYT
Well, if they keep the crappy iOS Remote app, I won’t use it. It has to be the worst piece of software ever. I’ll take the physical remote and risk losing it.
I’d rather see Apple make the iOS Remote app work.
I was always hoping they’d bring back the clickwheel to the Apple Remote. Which means, drop the Play/Pause and Menu Buttons, and rearrange everything, including volume, on the clickwheel similar to the iPod classic, and update the software to work accordingly. But I guess we’ve moved beyond that now.
Works best with my iPhone. I do suppose non-Apple types are part of the intended market.
Why having it, already have one on the iphone curious to see the new features it worth to buy a new one