苹果出新品：新一代 Apple TV 九月份发布

In March of this year, BuzzFeed News told you that Apple had a new Apple TV in the pipeline and planned to unveil it in June at its annual Word Wide Developers Conference. Two months later we told you the company scrapped that plan, delaying the device to do a bit more work on it. It opted instead to focus its keynote-address attentions on its next generation operating systems and Apple Music streaming service.

今年三月，BuzzFeed就报道过苹果正在筹备Apple TV的面市，并且打算在六月的世界开发者大会上发布。三月份之后的两个月，苹果却改变了计划，延迟发布AppleTV，为的是再打磨一下产品。在主题演讲里，苹果公司把注意力集中在了下一代操作系统和苹果音乐流媒体服务。

Now, as Apple heads toward its annual fall event, the successor to its superannuated set-top box is once again top of mind and at last headed to market — and for real this time.

现在，苹果公司正着力准备其一年一度的秋季活动。新产品也将取代之前老旧的机顶盒，这一次这个机顶盒又成了焦点，并且最终要面市了——这次是真的。

Sources familiar with Apple’s plans tell BuzzFeed News that the company intends to announce its next-generation Apple TV in September, at the same event at which it typically unveils its new iPhones. The device itself is pretty much as we described it to you in March, sources say, but “more polished after some additional tweaks. Expect a refreshed and slimmer chassis and new innards; Apple’s A8 system on chip; a new remote that sources say has been “drastically improved by a touch-pad input; an increase in on-board storage; and an improved operating system that will support Siri voice control. Crucially, the new Apple TV will debut alongside a long-awaited App Store and the software development kit developers need to populate it.

据熟悉苹果计划的消息来源，苹果公司打算在今年9月份发布下一代Apple TV，而这个时间段也正是苹果发布新iPhone的时间。Apple TV和我们今年三月份报道中的描述相差无几，但是消息称其在打磨之后“更完美了。全新和外壳和内置;苹果芯片的A8系统;触控输入使得遥控性能“大大提高;机载内存提升;支持Siri声控系统。最重要的是，随Apple TV发布的还有让人等待已久的应用商店，以及开发者用来普及该产品的软件开发工具箱。

It’s a significant overhaul of the diminutive set-top box, which hasn’t seen a material refresh since 2012, and one that Apple hopes will inspire a big upgrade cycle through the annual winter holiday consumer binge, setting the stage for the subscription internet-TV service Apple’s been trying to get off the ground for years. While that service is most certainly in the offing, sources tell BuzzFeed News that Apple does not currently plan to announce it alongside the new Apple TV.

这应该是这个小小机顶盒的一次大翻新。自2012年以来，机顶盒并没有实质性的改变。苹果也希望通过这次Apple TV的发布，能够趁着一年一度的冬季消费热引发一场设备大型的设备的更新。这样也能为之后苹果努力已久的互联网电视订阅服务打下基础。消息称，虽然订阅服务的发布近在咫尺，苹果公司并没有打算和Apple TV一起发布。

While launching new Apple TV hardware apart from a new subscription TV service might seem counterintuitive, it does make strategic sense if Apple doesn’t yet have the deals in place to field such a service. Certainly, Apple doesn’t need to debut the two things together. By rolling out the new Apple TV and SDK ahead of the service, Apple is giving developers some lead time to develop compelling apps for the device — and taking good advantage of a holiday shopping season that will likely drive sales, further growing the Apple TV installed base to which it will someday sell streaming service subscriptions.

有点违背直觉的是，这次要发布的是Apple TV这么一个硬件，而不是全新的电视订阅服务。然而，苹果在无法落实订阅服务之前，这样的策略也是可以理解的。当然，苹果也没有必要非得让Apple TV和订阅系统同时发布。在订阅服务发布之前，通过先发布Apple TV和软件开发工具包，苹果也给了开发者一些前置时间，用以为该设备开发更优秀的应用。同时也可以利用假日消费季刺激销量，进一步普及Apple TV，从而等待某天流媒体订阅服务的到来。

Apple declined comment.

苹果公司未表态。