AirPlay 2 for Roku could bring Apple's streaming service to the set-top box

Roku and Apple may on the verge of closing a deal that would bring AirPlay 2 support to Roku streaming devices, according to sources who are familiar to the matter.

The news was first reported by MacRumors, who says that AirPlay 2 would be available via a software update on select Roku players and Roku TVs - but warned that not all devices under the umbrella receive it.

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Sonos faced a similar issue when it made AirPlay 2 available on the Sonos Beam and Sonos One speaker, so it's unsurprising that Roku would also run into difficulties putting the software on older devices.

If the deal pans out, Roku players would be able to stream movies and TV shows from iTunes via an iOS device, and would be the key to launching Apple's nebulous streaming service on the Roku platform without creating a dedicated Roku app.

It's all fair play for AirPlay

A Roku deal would make a lot of sense given that Apple recently announced a similar partnership with Samsung to bring AirPlay 2 and iTunes to the TV manufacturer's 2019 TV lineup with announcements from LG, Sony and Vizio shortly afterwards.

Apple's goal, at this point it seems, is to broaden the reach of its services so that when the company releases its streaming service, everyone will be able to watch it regardless of which TV or streaming device they use.

Unfortunately, however, neither Roku or Apple has confirmed the existence of the partnership, as likely and as imminent as it may be.

We'll reach out to the companies to see what we can learn, but they'll likely try to save the announcement for a later date... like this Apple event in Cupertino on March 25 that was just announced.