No, since everything will be Siri-driven, they won't include even a keyboard and a mouse in the package, bringing the price of the base iMac down to $1000. Analysts say it will double the sales of the iMac for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarter of 2012, and even 1st and 2nd quarter of 2013 will see a small increase in iMac sales.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Next-Generation iMac to Potentially Offer Television Functionality?
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Imagine this . . .
What if you go to Wal-Mart or Best Buy and buy a TV. Apple brand. It comes with an A6 or A7 chip set and is inclusive of Mac functionality, iPad functionality with a remote which is an iPod Touch. The remote is your input device by voice, swipe or virtual keyboard. It has a Bluetooth connection to a real keyboard with trackball if that is your "old school" thing.
It is multi-homing to your media connections, such as cable, broadcast, satellite as well as internet via fiber, copper, wireless and in a pinch (power outage), dial-up.
One box all control.
Have we arrived yet?
What if you go to Wal-Mart or Best Buy and buy a TV. Apple brand. It comes with an A6 or A7 chip set and is inclusive of Mac functionality, iPad functionality with a remote which is an iPod Touch. The remote is your input device by voice, swipe or virtual keyboard. It has a Bluetooth connection to a real keyboard with trackball if that is your "old school" thing.
It is multi-homing to your media connections, such as cable, broadcast, satellite as well as internet via fiber, copper, wireless and in a pinch (power outage), dial-up.
One box all control.
Have we arrived yet?
Last edited:
After image quality, the most important feature of a TV set for many people is the Full Picture-in-Picture (Full PiP), which requires at least two Digital Terrestrial Television (DTTV or DTT) tuners inside the TV set. Which manufacturers/models deliver that?
Oh god no, I like my 55 inch set as well. I just like more sh** in my PC, as much as I can get, others here like logos more than specs unfortunately. Master marketing I must say.
Compression is pretty heavy on iTunes stuff, HD looks decent though, I would never say bad. I do the same on my Blu's as well. I dont care for comedies in HD but LOTR, Star Wars (if they ever release the proper versions) Pirates, etc... I want the best I can get personally. Havent gotten a Pixar yet, I bet those do look really slick. Might need to Amazon some stuff for the Holidays.
An iMac-TV? No chance. I don't suppose any of these 'analysts' or individuals whose brother's-friend's-sister's-daughter working at Apple has thought that it would require another OS on top of, or part of, Lion?
If were being ultra realistic here (or more critical), these insiders have only started cooking up rumours and predictions because Steve Jobs suggested in his biography that he had "cracked" whatever it was which was holding Apple back from releasing a TV.
Note he said "cracked", not we've "cracked it, and were going to release a TV". I could easily say I've cracked the solution for time travel, but I won't be retro-fitting a DeLorean any time soon.
Apple won't produce a TV in the near future for the simple reason that they themselves know, within such a competitive and mature market, it would be ridiculous to try and sell a product that costs almost twice as much as competitors just because it has a picture of a fruit of it. Forget extra features such as streaming, downloading or 'the cloud', people these days can get content on the television set however they wish.
Whats more, the quality of TV are the components themselves. Unless Apple are going to contribute something to panel development, the end product isn't going to be much better or worse.
If were being ultra realistic here (or more critical), these insiders have only started cooking up rumours and predictions because Steve Jobs suggested in his biography that he had "cracked" whatever it was which was holding Apple back from releasing a TV.
Note he said "cracked", not we've "cracked it, and were going to release a TV". I could easily say I've cracked the solution for time travel, but I won't be retro-fitting a DeLorean any time soon.
Apple won't produce a TV in the near future for the simple reason that they themselves know, within such a competitive and mature market, it would be ridiculous to try and sell a product that costs almost twice as much as competitors just because it has a picture of a fruit of it. Forget extra features such as streaming, downloading or 'the cloud', people these days can get content on the television set however they wish.
Whats more, the quality of TV are the components themselves. Unless Apple are going to contribute something to panel development, the end product isn't going to be much better or worse.
Already used an iMac as a smart TV for years
With a Terratec DVB-T tuner and Eye-TV, I have used my 20" iMac as a smart bedroom TV for years. Therefore not a lot new here, except the tuner will now probably be HD and built in. Only things missing from my Terratec are HD (for when my local transmitter changes over to HD DVB-T output, probably next April) and the ability to access supplementary channels via the "red button". Record, timed record and replay works perfectly with tvtv.com scheduling.
With a Terratec DVB-T tuner and Eye-TV, I have used my 20" iMac as a smart bedroom TV for years. Therefore not a lot new here, except the tuner will now probably be HD and built in. Only things missing from my Terratec are HD (for when my local transmitter changes over to HD DVB-T output, probably next April) and the ability to access supplementary channels via the "red button". Record, timed record and replay works perfectly with tvtv.com scheduling.
Video of Mac Performa 5400/5420 Director's Edition
This YouTube video clip shows the Performa with tv tuner card working.
Fast forward to 3:15 and you'll see the tv tuner card working. Otherwise, you can watch the entire video to see what it was like to use Mac OS 8, from boot-up to using.
For an updated iMac "Director's Edition" I would suggest adding a BluRay player in addition to HDTV tuner card.
This YouTube video clip shows the Performa with tv tuner card working.
Fast forward to 3:15 and you'll see the tv tuner card working. Otherwise, you can watch the entire video to see what it was like to use Mac OS 8, from boot-up to using.
For an updated iMac "Director's Edition" I would suggest adding a BluRay player in addition to HDTV tuner card.
The new Apple TV will incorporate a toaster oven. The voice of Siri will be replaced with Henry Winkler as The Fonz. Also, it will use the A18 hexacore processor with a Terabyte of RAM so it can output at QFHD resolution.
- FaustsHausUK, analyst/therapist
- FaustsHausUK, analyst/therapist
Maybe Jobs really said:
"I finally cracked" when being asked what he thinks about analysts and lawsuit
reporting on Mac Rumors pages.
Wait, so, I'm confused. Is this iMac-TV just an iMac with a TV Tuner, or something more? Because even my 8-year-old Dell PC (that we don't even use anymore) has a TV Tuner built in, so... Way to keep with the times Apple.
Actually this is starting to make more sense. I'm beginning to think that Steve has seen the move from people doing their computing in their home office, to doing more computing on the sofa or in bed, i.e. the popularity of MBA and iPads. If you move the family computer out to the living room, which is the center of most households these days, you can see how people would get more use out of it.
So I think the idea with the new Apple TV maybe to just make it a big iMac. It's still a bold strategy, but there is a definite dynamic shift in our culture now that is making the TV the centerpoint of our lives. Whether you like it or not. So why not try to integrate the family computer with that?
We shall see how it pans out. Personally I never ever thought the iPad would be as popular as it is. So I can still be surprised.
So I think the idea with the new Apple TV maybe to just make it a big iMac. It's still a bold strategy, but there is a definite dynamic shift in our culture now that is making the TV the centerpoint of our lives. Whether you like it or not. So why not try to integrate the family computer with that?
We shall see how it pans out. Personally I never ever thought the iPad would be as popular as it is. So I can still be surprised.
And Apple's march toward becoming 80's era Sony continues. They are now a consumer electronics company.
No longer is the focus on doing, creating, and accomplishing. It's all about consumption.
iTools/.Mac was a way to share what you'd created. iCloud is all about consumption.
Other than iTunes -- a consumption engine -- none of the iLife apps get significant attention anymore. Ditch iDVD. Ditch iWeb. Dumb down iMovie.
I feel old.
No longer is the focus on doing, creating, and accomplishing. It's all about consumption.
iTools/.Mac was a way to share what you'd created. iCloud is all about consumption.
Other than iTunes -- a consumption engine -- none of the iLife apps get significant attention anymore. Ditch iDVD. Ditch iWeb. Dumb down iMovie.
I feel old.
With the Mac Pro likely discontinued and the iMac moving towards a home entertainment centre, is it the end of the line for any serious computing functionality from Apple? (Not an anti-Apple comment, just an objective question.)
I know right. I went negative fast on that one. God I love the people here, gives me a good chuckle. Little scary but fanboys are fanboys.
Uh oh negative again what ever shall I do. LOL
Haha, me too, and all I said was "not on this forum," which is absolutely true
Good lord!Probably similar to what Microsoft added in their next Xbox OS update. They partnered with Verizon Fios to let you watch TV (provided you are a Fios customer) on your Xbox 360.
Now all Apple has to do is find a way past the hundreds of thousands of those horrendous cable boxes from comcast and the like. Comcast scares me a bit since they are a media company and a TV and internet service provider rolled up into one.
HA! voted down for saying a TV rather than a conputer works better as a TV
The people on these forums, gotta love 'em
Two things, I hope if they slim this down and use mainly cloud that they don't forget about hard drives cause than I'll get something other than a mac.
Secondly am I the only one who think iMacs were enough of a TV with front row, I mean you have enough content on your iMac via iTunes and thats pretty much it, my iMac has been my TV for years.
Secondly am I the only one who think iMacs were enough of a TV with front row, I mean you have enough content on your iMac via iTunes and thats pretty much it, my iMac has been my TV for years.
MacTV anyone? Actually, I wanted one of those back in the day.
I don't actually understand why computers don't come standard with TV tuners these days. Sure, there are legal/technical issues now, but it just never seemed to take off. Nevermind, we watch movies all the time on our computers. In Apple's case, I think its an issue of control. They don't want to give us easy access to free content not purchased through the Apple portal (iTunes, App stores). But if Apple can monetize it, they might just build it into the Mac.
I don't actually understand why computers don't come standard with TV tuners these days. Sure, there are legal/technical issues now, but it just never seemed to take off. Nevermind, we watch movies all the time on our computers. In Apple's case, I think its an issue of control. They don't want to give us easy access to free content not purchased through the Apple portal (iTunes, App stores). But if Apple can monetize it, they might just build it into the Mac.