Rumor sites are reporting that at the iPhone announcement later this month, Apple will announce a new iteration of the Apple TV. The rumor comes from Mark Gurman, who is the undisputed scoop-master of new Apple gadgets as of late. According to Mark, the new version will have two pricing tiers (which may be $149 and $199). Mark does not explain what the extra $50 gets you, although my guess would be increased storage capacity. The new version is supposed to ship with an App store and Siri integration. Rumors also abound that the new Apple TV will be a hub for controlling devices in your home with home kit. While it seems a given that there will be an App store, it is not clear what types of apps will be available. Is it just going to be content channels or will there be games and utilities too? I wouldn’t mind a cool utility app that displays my calendar and weather on my TV when not in use otherwise. I also would like to purchase games, but am not sure well that would work without a game controller.

In the Sparks house, the new Apple TV cannot come soon enough. We bought one of the first 720p “puck style” Apple TVs. Over the last year, Apple has dropped support for YouTube (which teenagers watch a lot) and more recently the Apple TV has started resetting itself while we are streaming Netflix and HBO. I know some of Apple’s competitors, like ROKU, have made significant progress in past years but because my family has so much content in iTunes and we use AirPlay several times a week, I’d like to stick with Apple. However, even our Apple-nerd family won’t wait forever.