Apple TV 4K Appears on Amazon Hinting Prime Video Is Imminent

The new Apple TV 4K was listed on Amazon briefly, prior to being taken down, after a nearly two-year hiatus from the online retail platform. And while the set-top box is no longer available, its short-lived appearance is still significant.

While seemingly unrelated, the appearance of Apple’s set-top box on Amazon suggests that the Amazon Prime Video app for Apple TV will be released in the near future. Apple first vaguely announced in June that the Prime app would be coming to tvOS 11 “this year.” Earlier this month, Apple said that the app is still on the way — but didn’t give out any additional details. Now, it seems, the official release date is imminent.

To understand why it’s important to look at the recent history between the two companies. In October 2015, Amazon pulled the Apple TV and Google Chromecast from its virtual shelves since they did not support the retailer’s Prime app. According to Amazon, the decision was made in order to avoid confusing customers about the compatibility of those streaming platforms with Amazon’s first-party content service.

Apple was criticized after the fact for not allowing Prime Video on its tvOS platform, but Apple later told BuzzFeed that “all are welcome” on its Apple TV platform. Cupertino added that Amazon simply never submitted a Prime app to tvOS — interesting because Prime Video has been available on iOS for some time. Of course, the Apple TV and other set-top boxes directly compete with Amazon’s own Fire TV streaming platform.

Now, it seems, the two tech giants have resolved their differences. Amazon Prime Video is coming to tvOS, and the appearance of Apple TV on the retailer’s site suggests that it’ll be released sooner than later.

As for when exactly, there’s still no hard date. An admittedly sketchy rumor from earlier this week suggested that it could launch alongside the addition of the NFL’s Thursday Night Football games to the Prime video platform — slated for this Thursday. Take that rumor with a grain of salt, but keep in mind that Amazon customers probably won’t have to wait too long to stream Prime Video content on Apple TV.

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