It's taken more than a month and a half but Apple's latest set-top box is now available to pre-order.

The fourth generation Apple TV was announced alongside the iPhone 6s, the iPhone 6s Plus and the iPad Pro at a media event early last month. From the outside, you're not likely to notice much difference with the new box save for the fact that it's slightly taller than before. What is new, however, is the hardware inside and the companion remote.

The new Apple TV is powered by Apple's own 64-bit A8 processor (the same chip found in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus) with your choice of 32GB or 64GB of local storage. It also includes other goodies like 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 but what people are talking about most is its lack of 4K playback.

That could be a major disadvantage considering the competition - Amazon's new Fire TV and the recently-launched Roku 4 - are both 4K ready. There are plenty of opinions as to why Apple elected to exclude the feature - a decision that is even more puzzling considering the new batch of iPhones can capture 4K video. Some believe Apple may be able to enable 4K playback via firmware update although I haven't yet seen any solid evidence to support this theory.

Something else Apple has going against it is price. The Apple TV starts at $149 for the 32GB model and climbs to $199 for the more capacious 64GB unit where as Amazon's Fire TV is priced at only $99 and the Roku 4 commands just $129.

The first batch of fourth generation Apple TVs will begin arriving on October 30.

Thumbnail courtesy Eric Risberg, Associated Press