The old light box, was, well, just a light box. The new one has an empty compartment to store misc. stuff like your Apple TV, smaller streamer, etc. For us McIntosh users that have a rack of McIntosh, this is a great idea to hide stuff in your rack and keep things looking, well, fully McIntosh.
If I had space in my rack, I'd buy this.
Knowing how long it takes to get a product into production in a manufacturing environment, this light box was in the development process way before the current merger.
If you have a good relationship with your local McIntosh dealer, you don't pay $1500 (list price) for this.