As always, Apple is imposing some rather rigid rules for adopters of its new products, with a new Apple TV, new rental plans, and a new version of iTunes out the door.

Announced at the company’s September 1 event in San Francisco, California, the new Apple TV is presented quite attractively, with its makers noting that rentals range from just 99 cents for HD TV shows, to $4.99 for freshly-launched HD movies.

According to a FAQ posted to the Support area of Apple.com, rented TV Shows can only be played on devices running iOS 4.1 or later.

“iTunes 10 or later is required to rent TV episodes on your computer. iOS 4.1 is required to rent or view TV episodes on your iPhone or iPod touch,” the FAQ states.

The FAQ specifically indicates that rented TV shows using iTunes 10 on your computer can only be played on the computer, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS or iPod touch.

HD TV rentals can be played on the computer, iPhone 4 or iPod touch (4th generation) with iOS 4.1.

The restriction prevents rented TV Shows from being played on other iPods, such as the click-wheel nanos with widescreens, or the classic line of iPods.

Of course, these players boast small screens and do not specifically target videophiles, therefore the lack of support is justified here.

However, the first-generation Apple TV is also ruled out as compatible with the current rental plans, alongside the iPad.

Owners of an Apple tablet will not be able to watch rented content at least until Apple ships iOS 4.2 in November.

“If you download a rented TV show on your iPhone 4, or iPod touch (4th generation): It is not transferable to any other device or computer,” another restriction goes.

In other words, should you rent a show from your iPhone or iPod touch, you need to watch that show on your handheld device.

Apple markets the new Apple TV saying it is able to stream content from your computer.

It is unclear at this point whether TV shows rented in iTunes 10 can be streamed to the new set-top-box.

Users can, however, rent TV shows directly on the device.

Also worth noting is that, “Once you start watching your rented TV episode you can view it as many times as you wish within the 48-hour window,” according to the FAQ.

As before, users have 30 days to watch their show and 48 hours to finish viewing the episode from the time they click Play.