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Apple reportedly plans 4K upgrade for its set-top TV box

Apple's new TV box could get a beefier chip to stream higher-resolution video content, Bloomberg reports.

Steven Musil Night Editor / News
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
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Steven Musil
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Apple TV may soon be getting a 4K upgrade.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Apple is reportedly planning a renewed push for a place in your entertainment system with an upgraded set-top box that will stream 4K video.

The new Apple TV box will feature a faster processor capable of streaming higher-resolution 4K content and highlighting live television content, Bloomberg reported Thursday. The update box is expected to debut at an event in September, along with a new iPhone and Apple Watch models, sources told the news outlet.

The move would underscore Apple's ambitions to improve its standing in the streaming market. Apple commands only 15 percent of the set-top market as of the end of March, according to a survey by Parks Associates, trailing Roku, Amazon and Google.

It's been two years since Apple's TV box got a hardware upgrade. In 2015, the company added a new remote control, an App Store and support from its Siri voice assistant. Apple also took a page from its own iPhone playbook, introducing a new operating system that supports a world of apps. Called tvOS, the software allows Apple TV to now run new kinds of media, including games and fitness programs.

At its developers conference in June, Apple CEO Tim Cook promised "you'll be hearing a lot more about tvOS later this year." The company also announced that an official app for the popular Amazon Video service will be available later this year on Apple TV.

Apple didn't immediate respond to a request for comment.

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