Apple fans that were hoping a new Apple TV set top box would debut next week at WWDC are in for some bad news today. According to the New York Times, Apple is postponing its plans to debut the device next weeks because it’s just not quite ready.
The Apple TV has remained relatively unchanged since its second generation upgrade in 2010, but Apple’s team is still having problems getting the final product polished after already suffering major setbacks for content deals.
According to NYT’s Brian Chen, Apple had planned as recently as mid-May to use WWDC to spotlight the new Apple TV hardware, improved remote, and SDK for third-party apps, “but those plans were postponed partly because the product was not ready for prime time, according to two people briefed on the product.”
Apple released the third generation Apple TV in 2012 that contained modest upgrades to the CPU and RAM. HomeKit hardware now requires third-generation Apple TVs to be used as a hub, but many were hoping an entirely new device would be coming.
Now that Apple TV has been scraped from the keynote, iOS 9, OS X 10.11, and Apple’s new music service will likely take up the bulk of the presentation, though a few surprises might be thrown in. For a full rundown on what to expect, check out our run up to the event here.
Source: NYT
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
8 responses to “New Apple TV hardware won’t be ready for WWDC reveal”
Horrible, horrible news if true.
Well this sucks. The only think I was looking forward to was the new AppleTV and at least details of the new TV service. Damn you, Apple. ha
That’s too bad if it’s true.
This sounds dicey to me for a couple of reasons. Why would they put a depiction of the TV ON invites that were sent out a couple days ago if they weren’t planning to feature it? Why would problems securing content deals have any impact on the development of the physical product?
They might not be ready to start selling it immediately but there’s no way it’s not part of the presentation, especially now that it’s been verified to be central to the HomeKit experience. That’s not at all different than how they unveiled the Watch.
Disappointing if true. Back to plan B, and that is to hope for a complete revamp of the new Photos for Mac.
I don’t believe reports and rumors. Unless I see a press release from Apple them self I will not believe a thing until after the WWDC keynote. If there really is no new Apple TV next week then the ATV is a dead product.
“Scraped” from the Keynote, aye? You should have scrapped your editor.
Lame. I’d wager they are delaying this due to still trying to nail down streaming contracts with networks. Think Apple would do better with focusing on opening up the app store to Apple TV. Streaming content is nice but can’t imaging Apple being able to compete with Netflix, HO Now, Showtime, etc. They should focus on where they know they can succeed; apps.