It has been less than a month since Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) debuted the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. And while Apple’s major yearly event is over, that doesn’t mean no more surprises for the reminder of the year from Cupertino. In fact, Apple diehards are now anticipating another product release from the tech giant. Rumors suggest that the next Apple TV – the 5th-gen Apple TV, and a new line of Mac computers could be launched during the latter months of 2016 or into the first quarter of 2017.
Always on the lookout for interesting news, media outlets through their various sources often provide strong clues as to what tech companies are up to. One such source is the United States’ official certification authority, the FCC since limited but still valuable information about upcoming gadgets and devices can be found on their website.
On September 20, a new unknown Apple product was published via FCC. The file for the product was proposed to the agency on September 13 which was just six days after the iPhone 7 was launched. The new document indicates that the device has been approved for sale in the US. Apple has not yet made any announcements regarding a new product and there were no clear details as to what it is. But if we have to guess, the unknown Apple device, which bears the model number A1844, has case dimensions that are similar to the 4th generation Apple TV which comes equipped with the Siri voice remote. Its screw positioning is also the same as the said product with two Torx screws. The small size and curves on the device have a connector with four colored cables. The A1844 model number found on the case is not currently being used by Apple for any of their existing products, which means it is definitely a new one.
The FCC filing shows that tests were conducted on the device showing Bluetooth low energy chip. It also has a Near-field communication (NFC) module. NFC is not available in the existing Apple TV versions. It is however, present on the iPhone and Apple Watch as part of the Apple Pay service. NFC is used mainly for contactless payments. However, the document does not show any data about tests using Wi-Fi. This could mean that Apple decided to re-use the same hardware design or there is no Wi-Fi functionality at all.
Consomac first published the find of the FCC approved documents. According to the French website, there were no pictures to show what the unit would look like. The details were also not enough to draw a concrete conclusion in terms of of what exactly it can be used for.
There are speculations that the changes in the hardware might not be that big. But, the power specifications of the product are very different from the existing model. The power draw for the new Apple device is shown to be 100mA with a top capacity of 700mA, and between 5.5V and 13.2V. The 4th generation Apple TV had a power supply that had a top capacity of 920mA and 12V.
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