New Apple TV Could Be Announced In September

A New iPhone Isn't The Only Big Thing Likely Coming From Apple This Month

There's less than a week left until Apple's big event on Sept. 10. Everyone is expecting Apple to launch a new line (or lines) of iPhones, but on Tuesday, rumors began to fly about another potential announcement this month: a new Apple TV.

Three overseas shipments to Apple, spotted by the trade intelligence company Panjiva, point to the TV-related product on its way. On Aug. 25, Apple received a shipment called “Set Top Box with Communication Function” from BYD Precision Manufacture in Shenzhen, China, according to Panjiva. One week prior, Apple got another shipment from BYD called "Set Top Boxes." And a week before that, it received one titled “Set Top Box with Communication Function.”

BYD is known to be one of Apple's suppliers, and as those shipment names suggest, they may have something to do with a refresh to Apple's set-top box. Apple TV, a tiny, $99 box that connects to your television, allows you to watch programs from Netflix, iTunes, YouTube and more right on your TV. CEO Tim Cook said in May that 13 million Apple TVs had been sold, around half of them in the past year, despite founder Steve Jobs once characterizing the TV project as a company "hobby."

There aren't too many other details on the shipments, but Cook also announced in May that Apple was working on a "grand vision" for television, and Apple bought TV app startup Matcha.TV in August.

According to MacRumors, a new Apple TV has been released about once a year since May 2007, and it has been over 540 days since the last largely publicized Apple TV update. Apple did roll out a quiet update to Apple TV earlier this year, Fast Company reports. MacRumors recommends that you not purchase an Apple TV right now, since a new one is overdue.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this piece incorrectly stated that Apple had not updated the Apple TV in over 540 days.

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