The 9to5Mac folks found evidence that Apple is working on a new control for the Apple TV. The conceptual image released by the website was taken from tvOS 14.5 beta 6 and shows a much larger version with more buttons than the one sent by Apple currently with its set-top boxes. It is worth remembering that the current model of the accessory consists simply of a region that acts as a touchpad and two keys.
The edition found by 9to5Mac, internally named B519, has volume buttons, channel changes, a mute key and another “Guide” (possibly used as a shortcut to open the channel catalog); a “Menu” button and a trio of buttons to fast forward, rewind and play / pause in some multimedia content. The touchpad is still there, along with the microphone icon to evoke Siri.
However, do not think that this supposed control should be part of a new version of Apple TV or something. Precisely because of these additional buttons, everything indicates that this edition is a collaboration of Apple with cable TV providers to distribute it to their customers, in case these companies want to resell the customized set-top box according to their own offer of closed channels.
Obviously, if this rumor is true, we are talking about something that is likely to be limited to the United States audience. Sought by the international media, Apple did not comment on the matter.
