Apple Engineers Reportedly Pessimistic About Apple's Living Room Hardware Strategy

[4jasontv]

There is my biggest issue. It doesn't support many (any? I just know it doesn't Xfinity and their app is not available either to stream T) major cable providers. So unless you watch Apple TV+ or use streaming service, a LOT, it has few benefits.

It’s a streaming box. And it does work with xfinity zero sign on. I’m not sure what your complaint is. Do you want the streaming box to do something with content besides streaming?

Everyone keeps claiming others are laggy but hold 95%+of the market. If they were THAT bad as claimed, then people would be buying up Apple TVs. Clearly, they are good enough for the market; and at a price point people will choose.

Franzia is good enough for the market as well, and yet Pahlmeyer keeps growing grapes.

 

[turbineseaplane]

In general, for a streaming service box it is just too expensive. It's beefed up hardware just for the sake of it. $100-120 would've been the sweet spot even on the high end of boxes. And they need a mid-tier option still.

Everyone keeps claiming others are laggy but hold 95%+of the market. If they were THAT bad as claimed, then people would be buying up Apple TVs. Clearly, they are good enough for the market; and at a price point people will choose.

Winner winner, chicken dinner!
Right on point

 

[abhibeckert]

Gurman points out that the Apple TV software has gone through more interface redesigns that perhaps any other Apple product, and yet still it has failed to crack the market.

That's because customers want a grid of icons, a simple sign on service (far too many apps still show a url to open on your phone), and that's it.

Focus should be on tv content and get the hardware prices down as low as possible... and how about free if you subscribe to Apple One for a year?

 

[zman123]

2 words

AppleTV Soundbar

I don't believe, this would be a success. They would have a hard time getting into the high end market and this already is expensive - even without the Apple logo. So we would need something more at a consumer price level. But the market is full of not so good speakers already. You can get a decent sound bar (sound base) from nubert.de like the XS-7500 or if you have space take the RC-6000 or RC-8000 active speakers. They have good sound for "little" money compared to what else you find in the high end market. What price should Apple aim for?

The home pods are so bad in sound (and I mean it from an objective stand point). But they are good enough to play some music in a room and can create some fun/excitement. I was thinking about getting one, because of the nice interface and because the full sound can be sometime too much. But it does not seem to make sense to replace a good active speaker on an express base station with AirPlay.

 

[turbineseaplane]

FaceTime TV. We need a way to FaceTime from our TVs. Whether that’s some camera on a HomePod/Apple TV or a boring old webcam I don’t care.

We have older relatives that would KILL for this product so they could much more enjoyably interact with grandkids.

Even on the biggest of iPads, it sucks for older folks.

They would absolutely love love love FaceTime at TV scale.

 

[HVDynamo]

2 words

AppleTV Soundbar

Honestly, I don't want something like that at all. I already have a home theater system. I don't want another bigger speaker sized thing sitting there that I don't use the speaker on. Personally I like the AppleTV exactly as it is. I don't mind the cost because the quality of it is great.

 

[UltimaKilo]

I agree that Apple needs a streaming stick… something around $49.99. However, they should keep the dedicated box and make it into a HomePod /Apple TV. Apple also needs to get deeper into video games, it’s a huge market that they should be getter a piece of.

 

[jk1221]

It’s a streaming box. And it does work with xfinity zero sign on. I’m not sure what your complaint is. Do you want the streaming box to do something with content besides streaming?

Untrue https://www.bestappletv.com/news/ex...-tvos-app-for-its-21-million-cable-customers/ The only way to watch Comcast cable on a TV is to Airplay it to the Apple TV, which makes no sense (and lose any Apple TV interface benefits) to do and you could do with a sub-$50 stick or just use the cable box; way less effort.

They should work out better deals with cable providers if they want to get people on board. Many many people still do want to watch cable; 20 million just on Xfinity cable.

Putting Apple's interface in the mix would get some people over. You cant just hope people want to spend 2-3 times as much to watch the same Nexflix, Hulu, Disney, etc anymore that you can get for $50 and less. MANY TVs come with that ability built-in these days for $0.

Something different if you wonder why you only have 2-3% of the market.

 

[Seanm87]

I just don’t see the point in the Apple TV. All TVs have all the apps like Netflix and prime etc built in.

And yes the Apple TV has a better UI but the vast vast majority of people don’t care and just want to watch Netflix. Why spend £179 (or however much it is these days) when you can not spend a single penny (other than what you paid for the TV)? It just doesnt make any sense for most people. It’s an obscene amount of money to spend on something that already does what the TV can do, just slightly prettier and snappier.

 

[smulji]

I really think they should segment the product line

Agree. Have a low-cost ($79 to $99) ATV 4K streaming stick for older TV's that will never get the ATV app. And re-focus the current ATV box into a competitive gaming console.

 

[chinito77]

For me, it's having something that takes advantage of WiFi 6 to watch 4k 60FPS stuff without any buffering. I thought Arcade would be nice but I just cancelled it. I rather have my iPad games playable on the big screen directly from the Apple TV so I don't have to deal with lag/latency issues. Apple+ has been the saving grace since most new movies are available there for rental.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Agree. Have a low-cost ($79 to $99) ATV 4K streaming stick for older TV's that will never get the ATV app. And re-focus the current ATV box into a competitive gaming console.

I was with you until “never get the ATV app”
That makes no sense. They are already putting that on generic TVs.

That is a service they are trying to charge for and they need it “everywhere” and not limited by device or price tier just to get access.

 

[smulji]

I think a much more winning strategy for the living room is an M1 Apple TV that jumps in the ring with PS5 and Xbox. $199 for a streaming box that the kiddos can play top tier games on could help their cause.

100% this

 

[mnsportsgeek]

I’m very happy with my Apple TV. My PS5 and Apple TV are the only 2 devices in my entertainment center that aren’t a laggy mess. Maybe it’s overpowered and overpriced, but it works well.

Apple will never be a serious player in gaming. It’s time for people to stop hoping for it to happen.

 

[smulji]

I was with you until “never get the ATV app”
That makes no sense. They are already putting that on generic TVs.

That is a service they are trying to charge for and they need it “everywhere” and not limited by device or price tier just to get access.

I think you misunderstood what I said. Older TV's (aka non-smart TV's) will never get the ATV app pre-loaded on them because they don't have the hardware to support streaming services. So by Apple making a low-cost 4K ATV streaming stick, these older TV's will have access to services they never otherwise would have.

 

[Canado]

I don’t need a Streaming Stick. AppleTV is so much better than Firestick for me, I compared live.

I love that I can stream anything from my MacBook (via infuse pro).
I love to send anything from iPhone to the big screen (airplay). All my friends with tvs it’s just not easy or possible. Buggy.

I love to stream music over the sound system.

I love the screensavers for apple tv. If you have a really big screen and projector - its like you have a magic fire place… just better…🦄😁

Don’t need a speaker combined with atv. Will buy the last atv if this news is true 😔.

 

[reyesmac]

I don't believe the legitimacy of stories like this. Just like Apple can go after leakers they can also fill the. news cycle with false stories about their products. Apples M1 chip now being mass produced and being placed inside just about everything they can get their hands on, will one day power iPads, iPhones, and whatever other wearable they want. That chip is not going away. And it can, once that chip is bottom of the barrel and ridiculously cheap to produce can power another generation of devices including the Apple TV. Right now they can use it to show how powerful their devices are but is a bottom end chip to start with. This is the chip they can use in their cheapest devices for the next 5 years. An Apple TV with an M1 is a computer and will be capable of playing any title developers create for the next 5 years. The problem is not having a roadmap to allow developers to have the apps they need to sell people on the device. Thats just Apple painting itself into a corner. But the chips they are making can easily go into an Apple TV, its just too soon and they may show all their cards if they beef it up with an iPad chip too soon because they can't wait for the M1. Once the low end devices are all on M1X, they can put an M1 in devices like the Apple TV for the same price as today or $50 more.

 

[ersatzplanet]

I think it should be expanded. I use an Apple TV and a older Mac Mini for my media. I store movies and music on the Mini and use Plex to play them on the AppleTV. I would love one box doing both. The AppleTV currently uses a A series chip in it, put a M series in a box like a Mini with hard drive space (or ports to connect to them), a nice media center software app and it would be perfect for me. The power for games. I know Apple got out of the WiFi router business but I still use an Airport extreme, put a powerful router in there too and really make it the internet hub of the house.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I think you misunderstood what I said. Older TV's (aka non-smart TV's) will never get the ATV app pre-loaded on them because they don't have the hardware to support streaming services. So by Apple making a low-cost 4K ATV streaming stick, these older TV's will have access to services they never otherwise would have.

Oops. Totally my error, you are correct.
sorry

 

[4jasontv]

Untrue https://www.bestappletv.com/news/ex...-tvos-app-for-its-21-million-cable-customers/

They should work out better deals with cable providers if they want to get people on board. Many many people still do want to watch cable; 20 million just on Xfinity cable.

Putting Apple's interface in the mix would get some people over. You cant just hope people want to spend 2-3 times as much to watch the same Nexflix, Hulu, Disney, etc anymore that you can get for $50 and less. MANY TVs come with that ability built-in these days for $0.

Something different if you wonder why you only have 2-3% of the market.

What is untrue? I have Xfinity on my Apple TVs right now.

I am sure some people want cable. Heck, there are still some people with landline phone service. Neither seems like a good business to enter in 2021. Even Microsoft dropped cable box support on the series X|S.

You should not compare tv spyware with a dedicated streaming box because the customers are different, the functionality is different, and the quality of service is different. It's judging a segway on its torque.

And Apple has made a fortune off of 2-3% of the market. Their strategy of targeting people who are willing to pay for a premium experience seems to be working well for them. Meanwhile, the other companies are fighting over the people who don't want to spend a lot on hardware and don't want to pay much for the content.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I don’t need a Streaming Stick. AppleTV is so much better than Firestick for me, I compared live.

I love that I can stream anything from my MacBook (via infuse pro).
I love to send anything from iPhone to the big screen (airplay). All my friends with tvs it’s just not easy or possible. Buggy.

I love to stream music over the sound system.

I love the screensavers for apple tv. If you have a really big screen and projector - its like you have a magic fire place… just better…🦄😁

Don’t need a speaker combined with atv. Will buy the last atv if this news is true 😔.

so...some streaming video, airplay and screensavers.
I think we could do that for a lot less than $180

 

[JDHiro]

I like my AppleTV and use it absolutely daily, but there are some massive gaps I'd like to see filled:

• Make something like an "AirPlay Stick" that I can use for projecting content when I travel.
• A high-end AppleTV w/
  • Bit-perfect, exclusive mode lossless music playback (this would displace $2k+ Roon streamers)
  • High end graphics for improved gaming
  • 8K video support
• Apple designed game controller

What if you could just install tvOS on a M1 Mac Mini and run that as a high-end AppleTV?

 

[4jasontv]

What if you could just install tvOS on a M1 Mac Mini and run that as a high-end AppleTV?

You would have the first-gen Apple TV.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Engineers are worried about cost pressures from companies that virtually give away devices and services in exchange for your data? Since the other companies are subsidizing their costs via selling data on the back end and Apple doesn’t have that alternative revenue stream, what would be the engineer’s solution to that? There will never be price parity or feature parity as long as the competition is making money from user’s data. An engineer that doesn’t understand the business at least a little bit is a dangerous thing

Apple TV software has gone through more interface redesigns that perhaps any other Apple product, and yet still it has failed to crack the market.

I would guess they’re not much interested in “cracking” that market. You see, the moment they do, then will come the claims of “Apple has a monopoly on the AppleTV!” Then, Sony and Microsoft and Epic will sue so that their games can be played directly on the device without the AppleTV App Store

 

[turbineseaplane]

I like my AppleTV and use it absolutely daily, but there are some massive gaps I'd like to see filled:

• Make something like an "AirPlay Stick" that I can use for projecting content when I travel.
• A high-end AppleTV w/
  • Bit-perfect, exclusive mode lossless music playback (this would displace $2k+ Roon streamers)
  • High end graphics for improved gaming
  • 8K video support
• Apple designed game controller

What if you could just install tvOS on a M1 Mac Mini and run that as a high-end AppleTV?

NOW we are talkin’!
Great ideas. Great plan.

I LOVE the idea of being able to run the tvOS on an m1 mini
I would have one, tomorrow, running as my Plex server with external thunderbolt multi disk media storage if this were an option