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Apple quietly releases firmware for a new Apple TV 3,2

Here’s some incredibly interesting news from today’s iOS  update extravaganzaApple today released iOS 6.1 (or, in Apple TV talk, 5.2) for an heretofore unknown Apple TV called “Apple TV 3,2”. You can download it here. Apple’s current Apple TV — version 3,1 — was updated to 1080p with a single-core A5 processor in March 2012.

On the conservative side, this may just be a new set of chips cobbled together to do the same thing as the current model. On the optimistic/speculative side, this could foreshadow a new hardware product coming up soon-ish. Perhaps one with a large LCD attached?

Apple’s addition of Bluetooth today could also signal (ha) that a new Apple TV package would have some sort of Bluetooth keyboard/remote-type of functionality (Siri?). There are already a number of Bluetooth keyboards out there that cater to TV users, but Apple could certainly change the game in this regard.

We’re looking into it.

Update 1: We can compare some internal codes here which seem to point to bigger changes happening in Japan.

Apple TV

Update 2: Apple is apparently referring to an Apple TV model dubbed “J33I”, as noted by MacRumors. For comparison purposes, the third-generation Apple TV sported the “J33” codename. So, the “I” could suggest an international variation of the set-top box.

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