Following a brief period during which it was inaccessible worldwide, Apple’s online store is back up, and in the UK it's back with a new deal on the Apple TV 4K – buy one and you'll get a £40 gift card.
When Apple’s Back to School offers dropped in the US at the start of July there was one outlier: a deal on the Apple TV 4K (2021). As a result, it was unclear if this streaming box deal would be worldwide, and now we have the answer.
If you decide to pick up an Apple TV 4K at the UK online store – either the £169 32GB model, or the 64GB version for £189 – you’ll get a £40 Apple gift card to spend at the store. You could use this to buy accessories for your iPhone 13, films or TV shows to enjoy on your new streaming box, or apps for your iPad Air (2022).
If you want to snatch up this deal you have until August 15.
Analysis: a hint of what’s to come?
Apple’s Back to School deal are typically reserved for products that are perfect for the school environment. This includes the best Macbooks and Macs, and the best iPads – which are easy-to-use yet powerful gadgets that are well suited for taking notes and completing class assignments.
But the Apple TV 4K doesn't quite fit what we’d typically think of as an education device – unless you’re studying film or TV. Perhaps the deal was Apple’s way of reminding us that everyone needs a way to unwind after a busy day of school work; still, something felt a bit fishy.
Our TV & Audio editor Matt Bolton theorised that the US deal on the Apple TV 4K could be Apple paving the way for its new Apple TV device. As he saw it, something like the Home Pod Mini would make for a much better student gadget, while other stores have recently been offering some fairly large discounts on Apple TVs too.
As such, it seemed much more likely that Apple was trying to empty its warehouses of Apple TV 4K stock to make room for its successor.
Now, with this standalone Apple TV 4K deal launching in the UK independently of the Back to School sale, Matt's theory seems a lot more plausible. Apple is looking for any excuse it can find to discount its 4K streaming box before launching a follow-up.
Based on rumors we’ll either see Apple launch a new Apple TV with an upgraded processor and more memory – with likely a similar design and price as its current 4K model – or a cheaper version. The latter makes a lot more sense, as Apple seriously needs to offer a cheap streaming stick to take on Apple TV’s budget-friendly rivals like the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max.
It’s not yet clear when Apple’s next streaming stick will be announced or launched, so we’ll have to tune into Apple’s upcoming events to see what it unveils. We could see it drop this year alongside the iPhone 14 or long-awaited AirPods Pro 2, or we could see Apple use the same launch window as for the Apple TV 4K, which dropped in April 2021, and go for a spring (March-May) 2023 release.
Looking for something to watch on your new Apple TV streaming box? Try out the company's streaming service and watch the best Apple TV Plus shows.
