When Apple announced the latest iteration of it’s Apple TV last Wednesday, many, including myself, wondered if the original unit would be treated to a software update to bring it in line with the newer model. Well the simple answer is no, no it won’t. In typical Apple fashion (think iPods) the older system will be left where it is, hot and bothered.

This does have it’s bonuses though, the new Apple TV is a rental only model, while the original will still allow you to purchase media. I’m wondering if further down the line Apple will re-enable purchasing? They could get around the lack of hard drive by downloading it directly to the main streaming client.

Incidentally, the new Apple TV does not seem to be impressing, especially not in the UK. The addition of Netflix streaming is a big bonus for US peeps, probably the biggest selling point to be honest. What do us UK users have to look forward to? Nothing really. I would have liked to have seen a deal struck to get iPlayer on there? But then I suppose that would stop us renting BBC content. Really is a strange situation where we can watch it free on the computer, yet have to pay to rent it on the TV. One things for sure though, this new A4 unit should run far, far cooler than it’s Intel powered predecessor.

Apple have today released the long awaited 10.5.6 update with the promise of many fixes, including MobileMe, AirPort performance, Graphics performance and much much more. For a full description of the latest improvements please visit here. This is a brief rundown of what’s been improved.

• Address Book
• AirPort
• Client Management
• iChat
• Graphics
• Mail
• MobileMe
• Networking
• Printing
• Parental Controls
• Time Machine
• Safari

Mac OS X 10.5.6 update is here