First Evidence of Fifth-Generation Apple TV and tvOS 11 Possibly Spotted in Developer Logs

Just one month after Bloomberg reported that Apple is testing a new Apple TV capable of streaming high-resolution 4K video, which it said is codenamed "J105" and could launch as soon as this year, the first evidence of the rumored fifth-generation streaming box may have surfaced in developer logs.

apple tv diagonal
Firi Games, the developers behind arcade games Phoenix HD and Phoenix II, told us they have seen a single device identified as "AppleTV6,2" and running "tvOS 11.0" connect to Phoenix HD for Apple TV from the United States in its logs. The IP address falls within a range linked to Apple's headquarters in Cupertino.

The current Apple TV has a model identifier of AppleTV5,3, and Apple TV6,2 does not correspond with any released model.

While the details could be faked, similar evidence of an iPhone 5s running iOS 7 showed up in January 2013, around nine months before the device was announced, and the timeline is appropriate if Apple is indeed testing a new Apple TV. The current Apple TV, the first to run tvOS, launched in October 2015.

No other details surrounding a fifth-generation Apple TV are known at this point. In December 2015, hit-or-miss Taiwanese website DigiTimes, citing supply chain sources, claimed the next-generation Apple TV would feature a new CPU with dramatically improved performance, but that report has yet to materialize.

Last quarter, Apple financial chief Luca Maestri said Apple TV sales declined compared to the year-ago quarter, when the fourth-generation model launched. The product still remains something of a hobby for Apple, which reportedly shelved its rumored streaming TV service and only has its "toe in the water" with original content.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 3 4ths Perspective Aluminum Camera Module 1

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple 2025 Thumb 1

10 Products Still Coming From Apple in 2025

Friday April 11, 2025 4:14 pm PDT by
Apple may have updated several iPads and Macs late last year and early this year, but there are still multiple new devices that we're looking forward to seeing in 2025. Most will come in September or October, but there could be a few surprises before then. We've rounded up a list of everything that we're still waiting to see from Apple in 2025. iPhone 17, 17 Air, and 17 Pro - We get...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Foldable iPhone Resolutions Leak With Under-Screen Camera Tipped

Monday April 14, 2025 3:12 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone (or "iPhone Fold") will feature two screens as part of its book-style design, and a Chinese leaker claims to know the resolutions for both of them. According to the Weibo-based account Digital Chat Station, the inner display, which is approximately 7.76 inches, will use a 2,713 x 1,920 resolution and feature "under-screen camera technology." Meanwhile, the...
iPad Pro iPadOS

iPadOS 19 Will Be 'More Like macOS' in Three Ways

Sunday April 13, 2025 6:43 am PDT by
A common complaint about the iPad Pro is that the iPadOS software platform fails to fully take advantage of the device's powerful hardware. That could soon change. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said that iPadOS 19 will be "more like macOS." Gurman said that iPadOS 19 will be "more like a Mac" in three ways:Improved productivity Improved multitasking Improved app window management...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

Waiting for the Perfect MacBook Pro? 2026 Might Be the Year

Thursday April 10, 2025 4:19 am PDT by
Apple in October 2024 overhauled its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, adding M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, Thunderbolt 5 ports on higher-end models, display changes, and more. That's quite a lot of updates in one go, but if you think this means a further major refresh for the MacBook Pro is now several years away, think again. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said he expects only a small...
Apple Vision Pro with battery Feature Blue Magenta

Vision Pro 2 Rumored to Have Two Key Advantages Over Current Model

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:15 am PDT by
Apple is working on a new version of the Vision Pro with two key advantages over the current model, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Specifically, in his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said Apple is developing a new headset that is both lighter and less expensive than the current Vision Pro, which starts at $3,499 in the U.S. and weighs up to 1.5 pounds. Gurman said Apple is also...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: New iOS 19, iPhone 17, and Apple Watch Ultra 3 Leaks

Friday April 11, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we catch up on the latest iOS 19 and watchOS 12 rumors, upcoming devices, and more. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Detailed new renders from leaker Jon Prosser claim to provide the best look yet at the complete redesign rumored to arrive in iOS 19, showing more rounded elements, lighting effects, translucency, and...
top stories 2025 04 12

Top Stories: iOS 19 and iPhone 17 Pro Rumors, Siri Revamp Turmoil, and More

Saturday April 12, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
It was a big week for leaks and rumors in the Apple world, with fresh claims about iOS 19, the iPhone 17 Pro, and even the 20th anniversary iPhone coming a couple of years from now. Sources also spilled the tea on the inner turmoil at Apple around the Apple Intelligence-driven Siri revamp that has seen significant delays, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more! iOS ...
iPhone 16e Feature

iPhones, Macs, and Other Apple Devices Exempted From Trump Tariffs

Saturday April 12, 2025 9:44 am PDT by
Apple and other electronics manufacturers have received a break from Trump's reciprocal tariffs, with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency sharing a long list of products excluded from the levies last night. iPhones, Macs, iPads, Apple Watch, and other Apple devices will not be subject to the 125 percent tariffs that have been put in place on imported Chinese goods, nor will Apple...

Top Rated Comments

thisisnotmyname Avatar
106 months ago
Nice, I know the Apple TV gets a lot of hate around here but I really like the ones I have.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mcfrazieriv Avatar
106 months ago
PLEASE, TIM COOK, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD... MAKE THIS 4K.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BlandUsername Avatar
106 months ago
I think it has earned both respect and scorn. What it does it does well, What it doesn't do, it does at twice what the price the unit should be. :(
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
camnchar Avatar
106 months ago
Some day Apple will, hopefully, come to learn that crippled products are not in Apple's best interest. Crippled products allow the competition to offer the same product for much less cost.
Amen. It's become harder and harder to evangelize Apple under Tim Cook because he bases decisions on the next upgrade cycle: "If I offer 32gb base storage now, how can I upsell the user next time? If I offer 4K Apple TV now, what could possibly be the 'next big thing' next time?"

Cook intentionally cripples products now so that he can sell the next one down the line, and that's been obvious for years. So what we have now, and for the foreseeable future, is a hobbled Apple whose bottom line is more important than making great products -- exactly what Jobs hated about other tech companies and feared would happen to Apple.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
oneMadRssn Avatar
106 months ago
We've been a predominantly Apple household for the last 10 years and I've owned Apple TVs since the original. But over the past couple years, the Apple TV lost it's luster and fell far behind the competition, so I've since moved onto Chromecasts, FireTVs, and now an Nvidia Shield TV unit. The only advantage the Apple TV offers is access to iTunes content, something I stopped purchasing years ago do to Apple's draconian restrictions. No Amazon content, no Google Play content on the Apple TV either---content I can access on pretty much every other device made today. The Shield TV and Fire TVs are such far more capable devices, I can't see Apple including anything in a new Apple TV that would entice me back.
The thing that always makes me return is the ease-of-use. A total technophobe can pickup the AppleTV remote and have it figured out pretty quick. That is not the case with any others. Chromecast requires the use of a smartphone, AndroidTV is a bit too complex and cumbersome. FireTV comes close, but isn't quite as polished and smooth as tvOS. At the end of the day, I'll choose the easier to use option every time.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Andres Cantu Avatar
106 months ago
New Apple TV is nice and all, but I hope they discover references to new Macs as well.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)