We've already seen evidence that Apple has been working on a next generation Apple TV. Back in October, references to an unreleased "AppleTV3,1" model were found in the latest versions of iOS 5. Meanwhile, Apple has reportedly asked movie studios to start submitting 1080p content to the iTunes Store late last year.
A Retina Display iPad would represent an opportunity for Apple to launch a 1080p iTunes Store. It would also make sense for it to correspond to an Apple TV update. 9to5Macnow notes that stock of the current generation Apple TV is running low amongst retailers such as BestBuy, Target and Amazon. The timing suggests that the Apple TV could be getting a refresh around the same timeframe as the iPad.
The Apple TV is a product that we haven't tracked in our Buyer's Guide. The reason is that the Apple TV is unique in that it is more of a living room appliance whose primary purpose is to play iTunes content on your television. As a result, as long as the Apple TV can play all current iTunes content, there's been no compelling reason for Apple to offer a major hardware upgrade. In October, we wrote:
So, we can't be certain when Apple might be launching a new Apple TV, but believe it would be tied to other offerings, either 1080p HD iTunes content or another television initiative altogether.
If Apple does see the iPad 3 as an a opportunity to launch the rumored 1080p iTunes Store, then it seems likely the Apple TV will follow.
Update:
Apple TV unavailable to order
A customer was inquiring tonight about Apple TV. However right now we are out of stock (Which hasn’t happened since I started). Not only were we out of stock, but I was also unable to order one from our product ordering system (OMS). Product was listed as “currently unavailable”. From prior experience, this usually is associated with a product that is being “discontinued”.
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