Apple TV (actual television) Closer to Reality

[Average Pro]

When Apple first teased a television, not the streaming box but actual television, I was initially really excited. However, I figured cable companies wouldn't play. Think of the money they make from each cable box, remote and push notification advertising on your TV screen which you have to cancel before you can begin watching a program.

However, over the past several years, the increase of people cutting cable and utilizing programs such as Netflix, Hulu, etc, has led to a significant shift. I believe Apple no longer needs to worry about meeting and/or integrating cable company set top boxes. That falls on the cable companies and they'll have to make an App that works on Apple TV. I cut the cable in 2015. Since then I don't feel like I've missed anything. On the contrary, the quality of programming available via Apple TV is superior to anything currently available on broadcast TV. Think Black Mirror, Mindhunter, Dark, Stranger Things, The Crown and so on. For sports, I installed an HD antenna.

Thank you Apple for once again simplifying technology and making it accessible to everyone.

 

[ZEEN0j]

I don’t think they need to make a tv when they have the Apple TV that works on all TVs.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

It's interesting BUT as much as we all Apple for their beautiful design, components, UI etc you have to think of it in business terms. Apple is interested in only ONE thing - Money to feed their greedy fat cat management & shareholders. Period - that's it.
NOW, look at the iPhone - their product that is keeping the company afloat. It's aimed at EVERYONE at every corner of the globe. It's a multi function little gadget that replaces a camera, camcorder, DVD player, music player etc - even a watch (for me). It does everything. It's super expensive BUT a large part of its customers buy it on a 24 month contract to spread the costs.
NOW, look at a TV. If it's £2000+ this will not sell to EVERYONE in every corner of the globe. It's easy for Americans to think that every person watches the TV as the USA has the highest TV viewing in the world. It's also the unhealthiest country with an average of 8 hours a day! To me, that's sick! What a waste of a life.
Educated millennials are not buying TVs - they travel, life in the big cities in bijou apartments were space is limited, people of all ages in the hotter countries spend more time outside, so they aren't going to spend mega bucks on a TV.
Whilst, I watch a weekly film with friends on a TV screen, I haven't watched 'conventional TV' since 2001! I use my MacBook for my digital life and prefer to be outdoors doing things.
In the UK, the latest stats are that the over 65s are buying TVs/watching and BBC1 viewer is 61. Looking at the John Lewis BluRay player reviews, their average bluray buyer is in the 55-65 and above market. The TV market is built on price. Yes, they want that £550 TV on offer for £350 (LG). Can you imagine Apple doing that? NO WAY!
Maybe a Apple TV 4K box and next years Apple Pro Monitor will be the perfect Apple TV for you and those with a lot of money to spend on a TV. I'm sure that the design will be breathtaking!
It's too much of a dying, limited market for Apple. They are interested in one thing only - SALES. And they want you to buy every 2 years. Their stores want a fast turnaround of customers. Pretty repulsive really but that's the evil of capitalism. But you're free to decide how you play that game.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Apple's target margins are not in a competitive TV product (with a screen). Does anyone want to pay 35%-45% more for a TV to give Apple it's target margins?

Would Apple makes it's own screen? Of course not. So when their source (LG? Samsung?) takes the very same screen they make for Apple and puts it in their branded case, pricing it well below Apple's price, what will justify paying more for Apple's TV? The case? The logo? When it's purely a (commodity) hardware showdown, we can't readily spin Apple's as better. It's the exclusive software that makes that case. So...

Does Apple discontinue TV? Because if the brains continue to be available in a separate little box, then ANY TV has the very same software benefits as Apple's TV.

What size screen is the right size screen for everyone? What 2 sizes cover all bases? Or does Apple need to make about 10 sizes in 4-5 inch increments to cover all bases? Can you imagine Apple WANTS to make 10 sizes?

Apple likes fast hardware obsolescence. They want us to buy new ever few years at most. TVs tend to last 10+ years.

Obviously, I'm in the camp that LOVES keeping the "brains" in a separate little STB. If someone wants an Apple branded television, tuck an TV BEHIND any set, scrape the logo off of ANY set and stick on an Apple sticker in it's place. That will get you any size screen you covet, the brains/UI fully controlled by Apple, an easy ability to upgrade those brains ever few years without having to throw out the whole set, etc.

 

[jav6454]

I don’t think they need to make a tv when they have the Apple TV that works on all TVs.

Agreed. Besides, it involves a much easier and "greener" process to make a standalone box than an entire TV.

 

[jjjjjooooo]

Educated millennials are not buying TVs...BBC1 viewer is 61...average bluray buyer is in the 55-65...It's too much of a dying, limited market for Apple.

The best stat I could find says in 2017 TV unit sales were expected to be 229 million.

For perspective, the same source says 216.76 iPhones and 19.25 Macs were sold in 2017.

So if Apple could take 10 percent of the TV market they’d be selling more TV units than they are Macs.

Also, BBC1 viewers and Blu-ray player buyers may not be representative of TV watching as a whole.

 

[George Dawes]

after the monumental messup sony have just made with their dv update i can't wait until apple bring out an actual tv

there literally is nothing worth buying on the market imo , very disillusioned

oled's got serious ir problems so that rules it out a a monitor or for gaming with fixed huds , sony's os and cpu are utter junk , the samsungs are just dire and panasonics - arguably the best option overall , have backlight issues and are very complex to tweak plus don't support dv...

micro led looks like it will be the saviour

 

[jjjjjooooo]

Apple's target margins are not in a competitive TV product (with a screen). Does anyone want to pay 35%-45% more for a TV to give Apple it's target margins?

Apple could hypothetically buck the smart TV trend and sell you a large “dumb screen” display to use with (and connect wirelessly to ) your HomePod and external Apple TV (the same way it can Airplay the audio feed to HomePod it could Airplay the video feed to the display) with no speakers or even ports and a removable stand.

Put it in a wider than 16:9 aspect ratio (ideally, in my opinion, 21:9 for constant image height with almost all movies, but 2:1 might also be appropriate given Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon have all released “major shows”—your mileage may vary—in that apsect ratio) with rounded corners and I would likely buy one (I would likely buy it at 16:9 too).

(Side note: I think Apple should remove “double tap to zoom” from TVos/iOS and move that function to the settings under a heading like, “aspect ratio zoom: constant image height: on/off: constant image width: on/off” so that “double tap” can be used for something more useful.)

Removing the speakers, etc. could reduce their costs somewhat and allow for a more seamless and flexible design.

Would Apple makes it's own screen? Of course not.

For what it’s worth, Apple did buy a micro-led company called LuxVue in 2014, and was reported to be developing this technology at a secret Taiwanese lab in 2015, and most recently rumored to be working toward possibly putting the screen in the 2019 Apple Watch.

So when their source (LG? Samsung?) takes the very same screen they make for Apple and puts it in their branded case, pricing it well below Apple's price, what will justify paying more for Apple's TV? The case? The logo? When it's purely a (commodity) hardware showdown, we can't readily spin Apple's as better. It's the exclusive software that makes that case.

Apple is known for the quality of their calibration and fine tuning (TrueTone, ProMotion) of the displays they use.

Does Apple discontinue TV? Because if the brains continue to be available in a separate little box, then ANY TV has the very same software benefits as Apple's TV.

Did Apple discontinue the iMac when the MacMini was released?

Also, Apple apparently tried and failed to discontinue its monitor display businesss when its customers were unhappy with the LG display they recommended.

What size screen is the right size screen for everyone? What 2 sizes cover all bases? Or does Apple need to make about 10 sizes in 4-5 inch increments to cover all bases? Can you imagine Apple WANTS to make 10 sizes?

This is easy, in my opinion, 1 TV size per room type they want to make a TV for. For example: (Kitchen 20”), (Bedroom 40”), (Family 65”), (Theater 95”).

Apple likes fast hardware obsolescence. They want us to buy new ever few years at most. TVs tend to last 10+ years.

I don’t know that they do like that, but CRT TVs may have lasted 10+ years, but, in my opinion, it’s less likely that smart Oled TV’s will.

But anyway if voice controlled “smart screen” devices like Echo Show become “a thing” (Facebook is even reported to be working on one with a 15” screen) then Apple may get pulled into this market whether they want to be in it or not.