Apple Retail Stores Pushing Sales of Current Apple TV with $25 iTunes Gift Card Offer
With rumors of a new Apple TV set-top box swirling, Apple's brick and mortar stores have launched a one-week promotion offering customers who purchase the current model a $25 iTunes Store gift card, reports 9to5Mac.
The promotion naturally sparks speculation that Apple is trying to clear stock of the current model ahead of new hardware. A recent report from Bloomberg claimed, however, that while Apple was aiming for an April introduction of the new Apple TV, a launch would not come until much later in the year around the holiday shopping season.
The Apple TV recently received added prominence in the Apple online store with its own major heading as opposed to its previous placement as an accessory, suggesting that Apple may be laying the groundwork to move the Apple TV from its longtime "hobby" status to a full-fledged product on par with its other lines.
Apple has reportedly considered a new set-top box that would combine the features of the current Apple TV with the Wi-Fi router features of the existing AirPort Express. The new Apple TV could also leverage iOS devices and Bluetooth accessories as game controllers for a potential Apple TV App Store, while also adding an Apple software layer on top of users' existing cable television services. Apple has also reportedly been in talks with Time Warner Cable about a potential content deal.
The new gift card offer on the existing Apple TV runs through March 5 and is currently not offered on the Apple online store. As with all iTunes gift cards, the credit can be used in any of Apple's digital content stores, including the iTunes Store, App Store, Mac App Store, and iBooks Store.
Update 8:20 AM: Apple has now posted the Terms and Conditions [PDF] for the offer, indicating that it is valid both in-store and online, but only in the United States.
Update 3:07 PM: Notable Apple journalist Jim Dalrymple has said that a new Apple TV release is not imminent despite the gift card promotion.
Popular Stories
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series in the fall, and a possible September 10 announcement date has been floated this year, which means we are just one month away from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design...
Multiple rumors have suggested that the iPhone 16 models are going to have an all-new button that's designed to make it easier to capture photos when the devices are held in landscape mode. Apple calls the button the Capture Button internally, and it is going to be one of the most advanced buttons that's been introduced to date with support for multiple gestures and the ability to respond to ...
Leaker Sonny Dickson is back today with a new dummy unit image showing all four iPhone 16 Pro color variants, including the rose gold or "bronze" unit that replaces Blue Titanium in the existing iPhone 15 Pro models. The iPhone 16 Pro models are expected to come in black, white or silver, gray or "Natural Titanium," and a rose or rose gold color replacing Blue Titanium, according to Apple...
Apple's iPhone 16 series is expected to debut in September 2024. This release follows Apple's trend of introducing new iPhone models annually in the fall. While the exact date has yet to be officially confirmed, the day of Tuesday, September 10 has been rumored as a possible announcement date, and September has traditionally been the month when Apple unveils its latest smartphone innovations. ...
Apple is beta testing iOS 18 and the first update to iOS 18 concurrently, and we got the second betas of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 today alongside the sixth betas of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia 15. Many of the changes in iOS 18.1 are focused on bringing the .1 betas in line with the standard betas, which recently received updates to Photos and Safari, while...
Apple is moving forward with its project to develop a tabletop robotic device, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The device would feature a large iPad-like display mounted on a "thin robotic arm" that would allow the display to tilt and up and down and rotate a full 360º, and it would serve as a "smart home command center," a...
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
