The 4th generation of Apple, Inc.’s Apple TV will be getting a price hike along with a serious boost under the hood, a report claimed over the weekend.

9to5Mac claims that the new Apple TV will retail for “below $200” before further noting that it will go on sale for either $149 or $199, significantly higher that the third generation of the Apple TV which is sold for $69.

The report further confirms that it will be announced along with the new Apple iPhones September 9, but adds that it will go on sale in October.

Of interest, given that competing devices from the likes of Amazon, Google and Roku are available for less than $100, Apple is said to be continuing to offer the third generation Apple TV for sale as a cheap competitor against others on the market.

Confirming previous reports, it’s claimed again that the new Apple TV will offer Apple’s voice query tool Siri, along with a new remote control, an App Store with a Software Development Kit (SDK), and a refreshed user interface.

Despite delays, Apple is still said to be planning to deliver a live streaming subscription pay television service on the device, but it will not be offered on the device at launch versus sometime (they hope) in 2016; the yet-to-be-named service will also be made available for the 3rd generation Apple television as well, assuring that Apple has a broad user base for the service if it ever gets off the ground.

Gaming console?

The increased price of the forthcoming 4th generation of the Apple TV has some reasoning given the hardware in the device will reflect an iPhone, complete with A8 chip, but likewise it’s still a serious leap in cost not only compared to the last Apple TV, but compared to competitors who offer increasingly cheaper and cheaper products.

We know that the new Apple TV will offer Siri for the first time, and there are reports that the remote for the device may offer everything from a touchpad to gesture support, but given the price increase that’s just a few shiny extras on the side; put simply, Apple TV needs to be something more to justify the price increase.

Gaming might be the killer feature.

While Apple is known for being secretive in its supply chain management to prevent leaks, realistically most of the leaks about the Apple TV, let alone the new iPhone, have their genisis in Apple’s marketing department; you ramp the hype around a device by feeding the masses tidbits and often insignifant details about new devices to keep them talking about them right up to launch day.

Apple normally always holds back some surprises, however, until the actual launch of the product, or to put it how Steve Jobs used to, the delivery of a “one more thing” moment.

We know that the new Apple TV will launch with SDK support allowing developers to create apps for the device that will be available from the App Store and we know that there’s going to be a new you-beaut whizzbang remote control…those two, combined with similar hardware to the iPhone points in one direction, and that’s gaming.

Stay tuned to SiliconANGLE for all your latest Apple news, including coverage of the launch of the new iPhone, Apple TV, and maybe even a new iPad September 9.

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