New Apple TV expected to be a no-show at next week's iPhone 5S event

Apple TV
Hardware, no. Software, yes.

We are looking forward to a phone-tastic event from Apple come Tuesday, a welcoming party fit for the iPhone 5S and cheap iPhone 5C.

While the world will be watching Apple's global fetes that day, one product that very likely won't make an appearance in the physical sense is a new Apple TV set-top box. The word comes from AllThingsD, potentially giving us one item to check off our "one more thing" possibility list.

According to "people familiar with the company's plans," Apple actually will talk about changes it's making to the Apple TV software. There will not, however, be new TV hardware to show.

Reports have swirled that Apple plans to talk about a new TV during its event at its Cupertino headquarters next week, but today's report shoots down that speculation.

Many more things

Apple has of late added new TV channels, including two from Disney, Vevo and the Weather Channel. It also purchased Match.tv, a video recommendations site, and plans to add iTunes Radio support at some point.

One potential new feature we could hear about is the ability to let users play content they've paid for on Apple TVs that belong to someone else. Using AirPlay, a user could pull up a TV show or movie on their iPhone, then stream that content on another person's Apple TV without having to change log-in information, according to AllThingsD.

Apple is also rumored to be developing a premium TV offering that would let users skip commercials during live and on-demand programming.

With a new Apple TV out, other possibilities for Apple's famous "one more thing" announcements are a new iPad, such as the iPad 5 or iPad mini 2 (neither are likely until October), the iWatch (a particularly timely reveal given the Galaxy Gear) or new Macs.

We'll know plenty come Tuesday at 10 a.m. PT/6 p.m. BT and 4 a.m. in Australia on Sept. 11. Tune back into TechRadar for complete coverage of the iPhone free for all.

Michelle Fitzsimmons

Michelle was previously a news editor at TechRadar, leading consumer tech news and reviews. Michelle is now a Content Strategist at Facebook.  A versatile, highly effective content writer and skilled editor with a keen eye for detail, Michelle is a collaborative problem solver and covered everything from smartwatches and microprocessors to VR and self-driving cars.