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This second version of Apple TV (also commonly known as Apple TV 2) dumped its forebear's 40GB of local storage, chopped its footprint by three-quarters and halved its UK price down to £99.
But its real advance only became apparent when iOS 5 was released in October 2011, which is why we're updating this review, first published when Apple TV 2 was released in 2010.
iOS 5 has opened up Apple TV to a whole new level of functionality, which means that if you're an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch owner its well worth reconsidering Apple's little black box if you don't already own one, because it just developed a reason to exist.
Perhaps we're being a bit harsh though – Apple TV has always been a darn good media streamer to use with your Mac/PC. You simply plug it into your HD TV via a HDMI cable and connect it to your Wi-Fi network using the on-screen menus and you're good to go.
But while Apple's 2010 refresh saw a welcome reduction in its price, it still wasn't clear what the point of Apple TV was.
The biggest confusion is that it still doesn't let you do what its name would suggest - i.e. watch TV channels over the Internet.
Instead its a device for streaming your media from iTunes on your Mac or PC for playback on your TV over Wi-Fi using a system called AirPlay, or for renting or buying movies directly from the iTunes Store, cutting your computer out of the equation altogether. That's all well and good, but it's only with the most recent update to iOS that Apple TV has really found its feet.
The first exciting feature that hooks up Apple TV and iOS 5 is mirroring, in which everything that appears on your iPad/iPhone/iPod touch's screen also appears on your TV as you use it.
This has many obvious applications - from a quick way to display photos from your iPhone to a teacher giving a presentation in a classroom, but gaming is the most exciting one.
Some iOS games, like Real Racing 2 HD or Modern Combat 3take simple mirroring to the next level, enabling you to use your iPhone as the controller for the game, which is displayed on your TV, effectively moving you into proper games console territory: There's you on the sofa, your iPhone in your hand as a controller and the game on your big screen TV with no wires getting in the way.
Anyone who has ever had any experience of doing anything complicated over Wi-Fi might be forgiven for thinking this is a venture doomed to be a laggy mess of bad connections and random error messages, but amazingly it's not - in true Apple style it just works.
Just watch this video of Modern Combat 3 playing on an iPhone 4Sconnected to an Apple TV 2 to see what a simple and elegant solution it is.
It's almost perfect, and games like Real Racing where you use the accelerometer to 'steer' your car work really well. The only problem is the lack of physical buttons on the iPhone mean you often have to look down at the iPhone's screen to make sure you've got your thumb in the right place to fire, which spoils the experience somewhat.
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