4K Apple TV could get a big gaming boost with chip and RAM upgrades

It won't all necessarily be about the iPhone X at tomorrow's big Apple launch – there's a good chance a new 4K Apple TV will get revealed too. And it's a launch that could be one to watch for gamers, too. 

This weekend saw a treasure trove of information leak ahead of Tuesday's launch, which developer Steve Troughton-Smith mined for details on Apple's next TV device.

According to the dev, it looks like the Apple 4K TV box will get a considerable power boost over its last-gen stablemate, packing in a three-core A10 Fusion CPU and 3GB of RAM.

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Apple goes gaming?

A three-core variant of the A10 chip could see it dubbed the A10X Fusion, in line with iterative chip updates that Apple pushes out ahead of a numbered chip architecture overhaul.

And while it'd help push the 4K-pixel count that many have expected of the refreshed Apple TV, it could also give the TV box a much-needed boost for games devs. 

The last Apple TV to be released in 2015 was only running with 2GB of RAM and the now-ageing A8 chipset. That increased processing power would be great not only for streaming 4K TV content from iTunes and providers such as Netflix (as well as potential 4K/60fps content shot on the new iPhone), but could lead to more advanced gaming apps hitting the set top box, potentially even catering for augmented reality-supporting living room applications, what with the ARKit API expected to be a large part of Apple's plans going forward.

All should be revealed tomorrow – TechRadar will be reporting live from Cupertino, so keep your eyes locked on the site for all new iPhone and Apple TV news.

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Gerald Lynch

Gerald is Editor-in-Chief of iMore.com. Previously he was the Executive Editor for TechRadar, taking care of the site's home cinema, gaming, smart home, entertainment and audio output. He loves gaming, but don't expect him to play with you unless your console is hooked up to a 4K HDR screen and a 7.1 surround system. Before TechRadar, Gerald was Editor of Gizmodo UK. He is also the author of 'Get Technology: Upgrade Your Future', published by Aurum Press.