Device to be deployed before WWDC, said a source familiar with Apple’s plans

Mar 1, 2014 19:35 GMT  ·  By
iOS games can already be put on the big screen by being routed through an Apple TV set-top box (via Apple's wireless AirPlay function)
   iOS games can already be put on the big screen by being routed through an Apple TV set-top box (via Apple's wireless AirPlay function)

Apple is getting ready to launch its rumored TV box with support for video games in the coming weeks, according to a new report. A source who is familiar with Apple’s plans says the company will not wait until its annual developer conference to release the product to the masses.

Apple holds its Worldwide Developer Conference in the June-July timeframe, and while the event is usually kickstarted with the launch of a new product (or a new product version), WWDC will not be used as the launch pad for the company’s rumored TV refresh, according to a person with knowledge of Apple’s plans.

Instead, the Financial Times reports, the company will introduce the new TV box earlier. Much earlier, according to this person, who said to expect an announcement “any week now.”

The device was actually scheduled to launch late last year, but was delayed, the source said. Perhaps more importantly, this person also relayed one of the product’s key features to the newspaper.

As previously rumored, the device will reportedly be a new TV peripheral – “not a full TV set” – and will offer “greater support for video games,” which could mark the Apple TV’s entry in the range of iDevices with access to the iTunes App Store.

The gaming rumor was first born in an iLounge report, and subsequently in a 9to5mac article from January, which stated that “Apple is making progress on its development of a successor to the current Apple TV […] which is said to be a set-top box rather than a full-fledged TV set [with] a revamped operating system that will be based on iOS.” In short, pretty much everything that the FT's source said.

It is certainly easy to imagine the Apple TV set-top box turning into a game console, as all Apple needs to do is flip a backend switch and allow the hardware to access the App Store’s 1 million+ applications. The Apple TV is already based on a version of iOS, and its hardware is nearly identical to that of the iPhone and the iPad (processor-wise).

Perhaps not coincidentally Apple opened up support for third-party game controllers in iOS 7. iOS developers can now design their iPhone and iPad apps to take advantage of this new feature, something that is technically foreseeable for the Apple TV as well.

If the FT report proves accurate, Apple should announce a special event in the following weeks, perhaps even as early as next week.