During today’s Apple Keynote as well as announcing a new iPad Pro and new iPhone they also announced a new Apple TV. The Apple TV hasn’t been updated for three years and new device focuses in on apps for the TV. It runs a new OS is called tvOS and you interact with the device via a Siri enabled remote. As well as the expected Netflix, iTunes and Youtube apps developers can submit apps to the Apple TV’s app store unlike the previous Apple TVs which Apple locked down and only accepted apps from selected partners. So we should see apps like Plex, Emby and other 3rd party media apps showing up on the device.

The Siri enabled remote means you can say “Find me some funny TV shows” Or you can use the touch pad on the remote to navigate around the OS. The remote can also be used to control games via the accelerometer and gyroscope. It has 1080p output (up from 720p) and 32GB / 64GB storage options and HDMI 1.4 with USB-C but no optical output.

As ever with the Apple TV if you are in the Apple ecosystem then is a very handy device for getting your content up on to the TV but the $149 starting price means there may be better options out there if you are planning to use it just for apps like Netflix and YouTube like the Roku.

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