As well as announce an "entry level" 21.5-inch iMac at £899, Apple has dropped the price of its Apple TV set-top-box. The UK version of the device is now listed at £79 on the company's online store. That represents a saving of £20.

In Europe, the price has also dropped to 99 euros. It was previously 109 euros.

Not only does this now put Apple's box in line with leading competitors in price, such as the Roku 3, it also sparks speculation that the Cupertino firm is about to pull a hardware update out of the bag.

READ: Apple TV (2012) review

The current Apple TV was released over two years ago, with no annual refresh. And while that is not particularly out of the ordinary, many believe that it needs a spike in specifications to compete with more recent additions to the genre.

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What the next-gen Apple TV will feature in terms of improvements is open for debate. A faster processor is a shoo-in, while other rumours suggest that it could come with a TV tuner built-in.

Adding BBC iPlayer would be a start.

READ: Apple TV 2014 rumour round-up: What’s Apple planning for its next set-top box release?