History of the Apple TV

Apple TV is currently on its' 3rd iteration, with the 4th generation potentially being a full-fledged television.

Apple TV - First Generation

Via  http://dereenigne.org

Apple TV's first generation was released January 8th, 2007. It contained the following technical specifications: 1 GHz Intel "Crofton" Pentium M, Nvidia GeForce Go 7300 with 64 MB of VRAM, 256 MB of 400 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, and it actually came with either 40 or 160 GB hard disk (unlike the newer models). It was originally priced at $299-$399 before being lowered to $229-$329. It was able to output 720p video.

Apple TV - Second Generation

Via  http://www.pocket-lint.com/review/5058/apple-tv-2-2010-review

In October 2010, Apple released the new incarnation of the sleek white disk. As you can see in the image to the left, it shrunk dramatically and received the hockey puck treatment. It also received Airplay support. It shipped with the updated A4 chip, but had similar 256MB of RAM.  Pricing was announced at $99.

Apple TV - Third Generation

The newest model available is the 3rd Generation, virtually identical to the 2nd Gen. It got a bump to the A5 chip, a RAM increase to 512 MB, and can now stream 1080p video. Pricing remained steady at $99.




Also see this great Everymac site for a detailed comparison of the models