The tech world has runway for whatever hardware they want to chase. The issue is just capitalism’s unending desire for more. Tech stocks are viewed as growth stocks where returns are expected to be greater every year. That’s not sustainable, but they’d be fine if dividends were used as intended.
Take your 4k vs 8k example. Studies have not shown that people can’t resolve the difference between 4k and 8k. They’ve shown that people can’t see the difference between 4k and 8k when looking at a standard sized TV at a typical viewing distance. But what if the TVs got bigger? The theoretical max size of a TV is your entire wall. 4k won’t cut it for that, but a host of technology advancements, innovative ideas and cost savings are needed to make something like that an interesting proposition. They are of course also chasing capabilities other than resolution as well. Take high dynamic range as an example. There’s plenty of runway for TVs to evolve, even if current televisions don’t need greater pixel density. VR of course still does need greater pixel density (at a lower cost) so there’s still plenty of reasons to chase advancements in pixel density as well.
We’re nowhere near the end of technological advancement, we’re just in late stage capitalism where investors squeeze the life out of everything. Apple has never stopped innovating, they’ve just shifted from technology innovation to innovation in revenue generation (specifically in services). That choice was made to maximize returns, not because technical innovation is approaching the end of its usefulness. Apple’s largest interest in smart homes will probably be camera feeds because that’s something they can charge a monthly fee for, as proven by Ring and others.
