Confirmed: 'iProd 2' is the new Apple TV
We've received a tip from an iPhone developer who was looking through the USB device configuration list in the new iOS 4.2 beta. Our source found the fascinating configuration descriptor shown above. Noted as iProd in the device configuration, this slip shows that this instance of iProd is the new Apple TV, not a new, unannounced iPad. TUAW previously broke the news that a similar iProd descriptor was used to denote the original iPad.
While the Apple TV demonstrations during Apple's launch event show that the new Apple TV isn't running the iPhone's central Springboard application, it's very possible that the Apple TV will be jailbreakable since it is an iOS device.
Analysts have speculated that the onboard storage of the new Apple TV will be minimal, since the company has publicly stated that the device will support media streaming only. As a result, if hackers are able to jailbreak the device, there may not be enough room to run custom apps, nor is it clear how those applications would interact with the Apple Remote.
The new Apple TV is scheduled to ship in late September for $99, and it will be interesting to see how quickly the hacker community is able to tear into the device. Of course, the 'classic' Apple TV has been modded and supercharged in many ways.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](https://web.archive.org/web/20101118010143im_/http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
AriX said 12:45PM on 9-16-2010
This was confirmed weeks ago.
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Victor Agreda Jr said 12:49PM on 9-16-2010
Really? Do you have a source for this or are you just trolling? Trolls will be shot on sight.
Mike said 12:49PM on 9-16-2010
Source? I've been following this rather closely, and I've seen nothing of a confirmation, only rumours, until now.
Very good to know though, my bet is that App Store might be on it with a year, they're likely waiting to see what kind of market it's building first.
AriX said 1:01PM on 9-16-2010
O noes, didn't mean to troll. I apologize for the bluntness of my comment... In any case, it wasn't necessarily confirmed that it uses the same branch of iOS as the iPhone, which I guess is the new news here, but it was confirmed that it uses the A4 chip, which basically means that it runs the same OS as the iPhone and iPad because it would be silly of Apple to build an entirely different operating system for the same platform.
I'm an iPhone developer and hacker (I'm on the Chronic Dev Team, which has aided in the development of the past few jailbreaks), and I've been in the iOS enough to know that it would make a pretty great platform for the Apple TV. I guess I'm wrong; it wasn't necessarily confirmed, I just assumed it was iOS-based because it made the most sense.
Anyway, I hope I won't be shot on sight. Thanks!
Victor Agreda Jr said 2:50PM on 9-16-2010
Thank you for the clarification :)
Keep in mind an A4 doesn't necessarily mean it has to run iOS, but it's the logical thing to do. Now we have confirmation!
erwinaroin said 1:35AM on 9-17-2010
Certainly, it can be jailbroken. And the latest about it, is about iOS 4.1 cracked by Greenpois0n. http://bit.ly/9RnJla
Marcos said 12:46PM on 9-16-2010
Jailbreakers should have a blast with this one. I think the prospect of an eventual AppleTV app store, where Hulu and others can make apps, is a very interesting one. It would also become Apple's Trojan Horse into the video game console market, like the iPod touch and iPhone were for the handheld video game market.
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Steven Sande said 1:01PM on 9-16-2010
Really? What's your source?
Apple was denying that it was iOS underneath the hood of the Apple TV, although John Gruber was "sure" that it was. This is the first proof of iOS on the new Apple TV.
Steve
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Alexandre Strube said 7:04PM on 9-16-2010
No, this is just proof that a device called iprod 2 was the apple tv, nothing else. As the iprod 1 ended up being the ipad, people supposed (wrongly) that iprod 2 would be a new version of it.
The guy probably found this .plist file on the /developer folder when downloading the latest ios/mac sdk.
YodaMac said 12:56PM on 9-16-2010
How can there be apps on the new AppleTV if it doesn't even have any storage?? Everyone seems to e overlooking this.
But at a $99 price tag, I could see Apple coming out with another model each year like the iPhone. Each one with more storage than the previous year maybe.
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Adrian said 1:01PM on 9-16-2010
Simple, they'll be in the cloud, along with music, movies, tv shows, and any other media. That giant data center in North Carolina isn't being built for nothing...
Tired_ said 1:38PM on 9-16-2010
Saying it doesn't have any storage is disingenuous. It will have storage, just no storage that is exposed to the user for media. If it had absolutely no storage whatsoever, it would be a brick, as you need storage for a bootloader and an operating system. Even if the OS is cloud-based (which I doubt), you'd need a basic netboot system on there locally.
Marcos said 2:29PM on 9-16-2010
An eventual App store for AppleTV does not necessarily have to run on this generation of the hardware.
Blake said 1:00PM on 9-16-2010
Once this is hacked you will be able to use an external hard drive with it like the previous model w/ aTV flash.
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hedbluntincharge said 4:22PM on 9-16-2010
correction, no you won't. the USB port is B only not A-B
hedbluntincharge said 4:28PM on 9-16-2010
Okay tried to post URLs to verify this, but they got flagged as spam or somethin, maybe they will work without the http
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus#Physical_appearance
w w w .hardwaresphere.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/new-apple-tv-rear-panel.jpg
Blake said 4:40PM on 9-16-2010
Well that is interesting. Guess you can just stream it from your computer then. I will be enjoying my 1.5 TB drive on my old ATV for the time being.
Jax said 1:08PM on 9-16-2010
I thought iProd was a new apple branded cattle prod...
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Pat said 1:11PM on 9-16-2010
Since the storage on Apple TV is so limited, does that mean that you'll be limited to how many movies you can rent at once? Or are they streamed via the web as well? What if you want to rent the movie and take the Apple TV somewhere (where there may not be internet) to view/present it I wonder..?
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Pusta said 2:27PM on 9-16-2010
Everything is streamed to the new AppleTV, there is no local storage for media. If you bring it somewhere with no internet...you can only stream locally off a computer running iTunes, you cannot "bring a movie with you" on the new AppleTV