Today ifixit.com reveals in their exclusive teardown that the new Apple TV comes pre-loaded with 8GB of internal flash storage and 256MB of RAM as well as the same A4 processor that ships with the iPad and iPod Touch.

And while this may not sound like much in 2010, considering that the iPhone 4 ships with 512MB of RAM and is available with up to 32GB of storage, it’s definitely overkill for simply streaming content. Especially once you consider that a low price point seemed to be the defining feature when Apple developed the new Apple TV.

Also, keep in mind that the 2nd generation Apple TV does not store any of your movies or music locally. As a matter of fact, 8GB of storage wouldn’t be nearly enough to come even close to store most people’s media in the first place. It’s plenty of space to store a variety of the most popular app store titles, however. So if not for the intention of brining the app store to Apple TV why would Apple go the extra mile of adding additional storage and plenty of memory to a device that is defined by its low price point?

And if this doesn’t convince you, keep in mind that the new Apple TV also runs iOS 4.1, even though the user interface hasn’t changed much from the previous (OSX based) Apple TV.

Now, I am not saying that an app store for Apple TV is an absolute guarantee, but with iOS, plenty of storage, and 256MB of RAM, all that I am saying is that Apple has the opportunity to introduce an app store that will run on every 2nd generation Apple TV from hereon out if they’d ever choose to do so.

Hence, I believe that Apple will gauge the market for next couple of months and introduce the app store for Apple TV if the moment seems right. In my opinion, this could happen as soon as iOS 5′s introduction in the spring of 2011.

At least Steve Jobs & Co have left the possibility wide open.