Apple is going to launch a successor to the Apple TV set top box in mere months, if a new report is to be believed.
According to BuzzFeed, sources with knowledge of the matter revealed the Cupertino-based company will show off the device at its World Wide Developers Conference in June.
The updated box will land with a host of new features, most notably third-party apps and integration with Apple’s digital assistant Siri.
Apple’s TV successor is described as being a ‘significant overhaul’ of the existing device. The report claims the new device is ‘intended to undergird Apple’s vision of what the TV viewing experience should be’.
The next-gen Apple TV box will ship with an updated design, and will also use the company’s flagship A8 system-on-a-chip, or at least a variant of it.
There’s also going to be a ‘dramatic increase’ in the device’s built-in storage according to the report, far above the current box’s 8GB.
The operating system will be getting an overhaul, and will provide Siri support to enable voice control of the Apple TV.
Related: What Apple needs to do to make its TV service a success
Developers will be given access to an SDK at the WWDC too, in hopes that they’ll cough up a smorgasbord of software for the new dedicated Apple TV app store.
The new Apple TV would also likely carry Apple's TV streaming service, recently revealed in several reports.
There’s no word on price yet, but Apple recently dropped its existing Apple TV from $99 to $69. We’d wager the new device won’t mark-up for lower than $99.
The set top box industry is a highly saturated market, with poor product differentiation having made it tough for Apple TV to make a dent.
This new model, however, will come with exclusive features, which could pry cash out of the hands of consumers that would have otherwise been spent elsewhere.
Apple hasn’t updated the Apple TV platform since early 2012, so a revamped version of the device would be a welcome addition to store shelves.