Apple TV release date: new streaming box set to be released next week, Tim Cook says

The new set-top box is the centre of Apple's plans to take over the living room

Apple TV (Reuters)

Apple’s new set-top streaming box is set to go on sale in the coming week, Tim Cook has said.

Orders for the new Apple TV will begin on 26 October, and they are expected to start shipping later the same week.

The box will cost $149 (about £100) for the 32GB model and $199 (£129) for the 64GB model. The company will continue to sell the existing box, and it may take a price cut.

The Apple TV, which plugs into a television to bring it apps, games and internet video, was revealed last month.

The Apple TV is the central part of the company’s plan to take over the living room. Tim Cook said at the September 9 launch event — which also saw the unveiling of the iPhone 6s and the iPad Pro — that the company considered the future of TV to be apps.

Mr Cook reiterated that vision of the Apple TV laying “the foundation of the future of TV” at a conference this week, where he confirmed that the release is imminent.

The new Apple TV is Apple’s fourth version of its line of set-top boxes, which was first released in 2007. But it brings a range of new features, including an App Store and a redesigned game controller, both of which are intended to bring the set-top box some of the features of a games console.

It also adds support for Siri throughout the operating system — allowing people to search for films just by asking, for instance, or see details about anything they are watching.

Apple has been rumoured to be eventually planning to launch a streaming TV and film service, like Netlix, which will be based around the Apple TV. Some had expected that could launch alongside the hardware, but it has been reported that the company is taking longer than hoped to sign agreements with networks though it may also produce its own content.

Apple initially said after launch that the TV would be on sale “at the end of October”. A report from 9to5mac confirmed that date, though said that it would be put on the website at the end of the month and then arrive in stores at the beginning of November.