14 DAY TRIAL // The special event Apple has scheduled for today will not only yield a third-generation iPad, it will also yield a third-generation Apple TV, according to people familiar with the matter.
Tipsters that have previously been accurate in leaking Apple part numbers and hardware info are telling 9to5mac that the next Apple TV, code-named J33 in iOS betas, has the following serial number: MD199LL/A – J33 BEST -USA.
The site learned that Apple’s third Apple TV refresh will not be much different from the current-generation of set-top boxes, and that it will be priced identically - $99 in the US, “and similar prices globally.”
Updated hardware will include a Bluetooth 4.0 Broadcom, and a “higher powered processor capable of 1080P video.” That chip is said to be same one found in the upcoming iPad 3 - the A5X.
There’s a mystery B82 product that is waiting to be unveiled today, the report notes. It reportedly has a price tag of $39 and it might be anything from a dock to a remote.
The Verge also claims to have information that the new Apple TV model expected to arrive alongside the iPad 3 will have 1080p capabilities, thanks to the built-in A5X chip.
Not only that, the product will be tightly integrated with the iPad and other Apple gear “to deliver new video streaming / mirroring functionality.”
The move would mark yet another step in Apple’s attempt to unify the customer’s experience, as the company has already confirmed these capabilities in OS X Mountain Lion, the next major version of Apple’s Mac operating system scheduled to debut this summer.
Finally, MacRumors chimes in with a tidbit of its own, noting that Apple will dedicate a $99 AppleCare+ warranty for the iPad 3, replacing the current $79 standard AppleCare package.