<P> On March 9, 2015, Apple reduced the price of the third generation (Rev A) Apple TV to $69 . </P> <P> On October 4, 2016, 9to5Mac reported that Apple had phased out the Apple TV 3, with Apple Store employees instructed to pull all units and demo units from store shelves . Shortly afterwards, Apple took down the purchase page for the Apple TV 3 from its website, with the link redirecting to the purchase page for the Apple TV 4 . </P> <P> On September 9, 2015, Apple announced the fourth generation Apple TV, to ship in October 2015 . It is the first major update to the platform since the release of the second generation Apple TV on September 1, 2010 . Tim Cook took the stage and said "The future of TV is apps". He also stated that the Apple TV needed a modern OS . While following the form factor of the previous 2nd and 3rd generation models, it is slightly taller in size . Featuring a new touch remote allowing swipe - to - select functionality instead of the old remote's arrow button, with integrated Siri support with a built in microphone and an accelerometer (IMU). The Siri button on the remote allows several functions, including searching across providers for content, accessing additional metadata, and video / audio controls . </P> <P> The 4th generation also uses a new operating system, tvOS, with an associated app store, allowing download of third - party apps for video, audio, games, and other content--initially from a limited range of providers on release, with others able to release further apps using new APIs allowing them to do so . A requirement of these apps and games is that they all must include interfacing with the new touchpad - enabled Siri remote . Craig Federighi said that tvOS is 95% based on iOS 9 with the interface and APIs being tweaked to support the big screen . </P>

When did 4th gen apple tv come out