Apple Drops 40GB Apple TV, Lowers 160GB by $100

Apple TV now only available in one size, dropping price of 160GB version by $100.

 

09.15.2009 — We’ve known for a while that Apple TV is a mere “hobby” for the company, so the recent Apple store shuffling just emphasizes that … or maybe Apple has something up its sleeve.

The Apple store has slimmed its Apple TV offerings in half, from the 40GB and 160GB models down to just the 160GB.

So the bad news, for now it seems, is that you can’t grab a cheaper entry model. The good news is that the price of the old 40GB model is now the price of the 160GB version. The 160GB has gone from $329 down to $229.

While Apple TV may not have become nearly as popular as Apple’s iPod or iPhone products, it does have its merits for renting and purchasing high-def and standard-def movies, streaming iTunes and watching photo slideshows on the big screen. A bunch of consumers also use it as a big-screen interface for all of the streaming accessible from Boxee.

One thing Apple may be keeping in mind is that 40 gigs just isn’t enough for media storage these days, especially high-def movie storage. Perhaps a terabyte or the like is waiting in the wings for our little Apple TV? Or maybe it’s going to be tied into some bigger-and-better media server? We’ll have to wait and see.

By Arlen Schweiger