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New wave of Apple TV Developer Kits opens up ahead of late October launch

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Citing ‘overwhelming demand’, Apple has expanded the number of Apple TV Developer Kits available for registered developers who applied for a chance to receive the pre-release hardware last month. A number of developers (but not all) who previously missed out on the initial wave of test units have been notified by Apple Developer Relations that more dev kits have been made available for $1 and will be available for ordering through next Friday at 5 pm local on October 9th.

Apple TV 4 launches “toward the end” of this month as Tim Cook mentioned earlier this week and will include deep Siri integration and App Store for the first time. Apple first began notifying developers entering the dev kit lottery of their status in mid-September. With third-party apps and games being a major new feature of the new Apple TV experience, Apple clearly wants to give more developers the chance to create software for the new hardware before its release in a few weeks.

9to5Mac’s Dom Esposito recently got the opportunity to share the Apple TV 4 unboxing experience, sharing the first in-depth look at the new UI software using the updated set-top box and Siri Remote.

With Apple and Google both upping their focus on the living room with updated Apple TVs and Chromecasts, we saw Amazon this week announce that it will soon stop selling both devices over the lack of the Amazon Prime Video service which is offers on its Fire TV hardware.

The new Apple TV ships in two configurations: 32GB for $149 and 64GB for $199. The current Apple TV 3 will remain available minus the new tvOS platform for $69.

Developers who previously entered the lottery to receive the $1 Apple TV Developer Kit chosen during the expanded wave of units will receive the email below for the chance to purchase a pre-release unit ahead of launch:

 

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Comments

  1. beyondthetech - 8 years ago

    So the second wave got their emails already? Still didn’t get one. :(

  2. Inaba-kun (@Inaba_kun) - 8 years ago

    Maybe send one to Jeff Bezos with a note telling him to stop being such a child and to just write a damn Amazon Video app.

  3. lkrupp215 - 8 years ago

    Don’t set yourself up for disappointment by expecting too much out of this device when it launches.

    • Arin Failing - 8 years ago

      The only thing I’m expecting is a Plex app, at some point. I also may download a couple of stupid, time-wasting games. Can’t wait!

    • pftcommentersuperb - 8 years ago

      What’s to be disappointed by? I’m in the tech industry and everything they’re promising looks reasonable to me. The only new stuff is upgraded hardware, a better remote, better search and apps. If developers can deliver on ios and osx, they certainly can on tvos. Can’t wait :)

  4. Julian Velasquez - 8 years ago

    Still nothing in my inbox. Lol. Looks like I’ll be purchasing the consumer version later this month.

Author

Avatar for Zac Hall Zac Hall

Zac covers Apple news, hosts the 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast, and created SpaceExplored.com.