An iPhone refresh at Apple's September 9 event is all but certain, but the more interesting news might actually be about the Apple TV. The company is said to be revamping the set-top box's hardware for the first time since March of 2012, and historically reliable sources say that it will also include a redesigned remote control with touch capabilities, Siri support, along with a new app store and SDK.
Those features come at a cost, though. A report from 9to5Mac says that the new Apple TV could cost somewhere between $149 and $199, a substantial increase from the $99 that the third-generation Apple TV cost when it was released. That model currently sells for $69 and we don't yet know which of the new capabilities will be back-ported, but the report suggests it won't see the App Store or Siri. Apple apparently plans to keep it around as an entry-level model, though, so hopefully it will pick up some kind of software update.
A price between $149 and $199 would place the new Apple TV above competitors like the Roku 3, the Chromecast, and Amazon's Fire TV Stick as well, though a fully fledged app store and SDK would make Apple's box more versatile than streaming-only devices. The original Fire TV box had a more substantial app store, but as of this writing it's unavailable and Amazon has never been able to garner Apple-esque levels of third-party developer support.
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