According to a new report published by The New York Times, the Apple TV 4 will not only benefit from a hardware upgrade but will also come with a much revamped accompanying remote control. It’s been speculated for quite some time that the Cupertino outfit have made the shift internally from classing the Apple TV as a “hobby” project to actually being a viable, self sustaining product that has mass wide appeal with consumers. As part of that internal shift it seems that Apple will overhaul the aesthetics of the remote control in time for the fourth-generation launch.
There’s nothing particularly wrong with the Apple TV remote in its current form. The design still looks modern and it is still extremely functional and easy to use. With that said, as the product develops and becomes capable of running additional third-party apps it’s almost inevitable that the accompanying remote will need to change to handle the evolution of the set-top box. If the content of the report is to be believed then it’s likely that we will see the inclusion of a touchpad similar to the one found on Apple’s MacBook range of computers as well as two physical buttons for interacting with menu and call to action options.
In addition to shipping a revamped remote control it’s also being reported that the Apple TV unit itself will undergo some internal and external surgery. The product itself, which is likely to be unveiled at WWDC 2015, will be slimmer and lighter than previous models and will ship with an overhauled operating system. The user-facing interface will be redesigned and will offer native support for Apple’s own Web TV and music streaming services that the company is hoping will rival the likes of Spotify, Tidal and Netflix.
The redesigned user-interface and new found capabilities of the fourth-generation Apple TV will be powered by Apple’s own A8 processor, but much to the disappointment of video buffs it’s still being speculated that the the product will not offer support for 4K content. It remains to be seen what benefit the addition of a touchpad on the remote control will actually considering the existence of the brilliant Remote app on the App Store. Maybe Tim Cook and his team have something in store for us that hasn’t been considered yet.
Only time will tell.
(Source: TheNewYorkTimes)
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