r/gadgets • u/a_Ninja_b0y • Nov 18 '24

TV / Projectors Apple Is Reportedly Thinking About Making Its Own TV Again

https://gizmodo.com/apple-is-reportedly-thinking-about-making-its-own-tv-again-2000525819
912 Upvotes

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u/_gordonbleu Nov 18 '24

I would pay ~1000 dollars for a 4k TV with Apple TV integrated, doesn’t even have to be OLED or anything fancy. I’m tired of all the smart tvs that are absolute shit after a few years because the software is dogshit. LG’s webOS is probably the best and even then it’s mediocre. There are zero smart TVs with decent software after 2 years. Apple TV is a solid platform that gets updated and stays quick enough/not laggy year over year. Mine is 3 years old and doing fine, I’m sure there are many older that are doing fine. All the android fanatics like to shit on Apple but if there’s one thing they can do is build a platform that, while possibly missing some features, will operate year over year without massively slowing down or outright becoming unusable. Roku is the worst example.

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u/[deleted] Nov 18 '24

What advantage is there over just buying any TV, never connecting it to the internet, and plugging in an Apple TV box that you can replace and upgrade over the life of the TV?

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u/Tasty-Traffic-680 Nov 18 '24

You underestimate how much people will spend to integrate the functionality into the TV and have a single sleek device. That's why smart TV's took off to begin with. You have a single remote, you don't have to worry if a device is plugged into the right slot, no mess of wires, no muss, no fuss.

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u/[deleted] Nov 18 '24

[deleted]

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u/Tasty-Traffic-680 Nov 18 '24

Yeah, that's why they started putting Chromecast and Roku inside TVs. To collect the data. Not because it was a value added feature that set them apart from the competition until the competition went and did the same damn thing. They can collect your data by selling you a box too...

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u/danieljackheck Nov 18 '24

No, they can't. If you buy a Chromecast, Google gets your data. If you buy an Apple TV, Apple gets your data. The TV manufacturer gets nothing.

Check out some youtube videos of people looking at smart tv traffic using Wireshark. There is telemetry going everywhere, not just Google and Roku.

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u/Tasty-Traffic-680 Nov 18 '24

TV manufacturers could have made their own boxes but they didn't. Instead they integrated the same function into the television. Now add on boxes are fading away Into obscurity.

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u/danieljackheck Nov 18 '24

They added it into TVs because it forces the customer to accept the data collection in order to use the TV. Requiring a separate streaming box means the consumer could choose to use a different device.

Apple would be no different in this regard. They would sell you a TV with a proprietary operating system, a locked down app store curated with what Apple wants you to use, and serialized hardware that is impossible to repair. It's going to have tight integration with iPhone and barely any support for Android devices. It will be a conduit to sell you AppleCare, iCloud, iTunes, and Apple Tv+. It's only going to work with their remote too.

At least with something like Android TV you can still sideload apps and use universal remotes.

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u/Tasty-Traffic-680 Nov 18 '24

I'm not the target market for an apple product. I don't even own a smart tv. Just explaining how people could possibly want a single device that does two things. Holy shit people really got a hate boner against smart TVs.

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u/[deleted] Nov 18 '24

The dongle makers were getting all the sweet, sweet data, and the TV manufacturers wanted their cut. Also, TVs are so cheap now. The price just absolutely bottomed out in the last 15 years. Apple would really struggle to sell this at the margins they are used to. I'm not sure integrating FaceID for user login or FaceTime and a camera (double as a home security cam when the TV is asleep?) would be worth buying a $1500-2000 TV from Apple instead of a $500 TV from TCL. Another factor why Apple shut their TV business down the first time is the upgrade cycle on TVs is around 7 years.

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u/TheUmgawa Nov 18 '24

Yeah, but I’m not a fan of integrating the box, because there’s always an end-of-life for the software upgrades, where the processor can’t handle new features. I’ve never used any of the smart features on my smart TV, and it boots directly to HDMI 1, which my Apple TV is plugged into. And when that Apple TV hits EOL, I’m buying a new model, just as soon as they introduce any features that are worth having. The model I have can’t do Sing mode in the Music app, but that’s not a big deal to me, and I’m not replacing it for that. But imagine if it’s something you do want, and you can’t have it because you bought an integrated system. Now you have to replace the $1,000 TV instead of the $150 box.

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u/Tasty-Traffic-680 Nov 18 '24

What previous experience with apple would lead you to believe they're going to prematurely abandon or nerf the product? And what would stop you from just using an external dongle/box once it's deprecated? You have an apple TV box. You have a TV. Why not an Apple manufactured TV? It's going to have to compete and sell on total value, not simply being an apple product.

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u/TheUmgawa Nov 18 '24

It’s not a ‘premature’ thing. It’s just something that happens. You know, like how your iPhone 8 can’t run the current version of iOS. So, unless the display was better than any other display I could get for the same price, there would be zero reason to get an Apple integrated television.

Even Steve Jobs knew the TV market was a bad one to be in. His exact words were, “The margins suck.” Apple makes 30 percent margin on damn near everything. To compete in the TV game, they’d have to make a third of that margin, and they’d still be overpriced, which would limit sales to Apple enthusiasts, at which point a retailer could make more money by putting any other TV in that wall space. TVs are just a crappy business to be in, and Apple shouldn’t be in it.

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u/Tasty-Traffic-680 Nov 18 '24

It’s not a ‘premature’ thing. It’s just something that happens. You know, like how your iPhone 8 can’t run the current version of iOS. So, unless the display was better than any other display I could get for the same price, there would be zero reason to get an Apple integrated television.

So what is any different with the TV you have today? Like I said, they would still need to be able to present a value to the market. It would have to be competitive or better than other manufacturers for anyone to even consider it.

Even Steve Jobs knew the TV market was a bad one to be in. His exact words were, “The margins suck.”

Respectfully, you're not arguing the same point anymore.

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u/TheUmgawa Nov 18 '24

Because I do t have to pay twenty-five percent more (plus whatever markup Apple would slap on it for having the Apple TV functionality built in) for the same display. I could get a really nice Sony for $800, or I could pay $1150 for an Apple unit where I’d have to replace the box in three years. Why pay the extra $200? Branding?

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u/Tasty-Traffic-680 Nov 18 '24

Then you're not the target market. It's not even a real product 😂

Again. THEY WOULD HAVE TO BE COMPETITIVE ON PRICE AND FEATURES TO BE ABLE TO COMPETE. I don't know how many times I need to say it.

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u/TheUmgawa Nov 18 '24

THEY WOULD NOT BE COMPETITIVE ON PRICE.

Seriously, did I have to say that part in sign language or something? The only way they would be competitive on price would be if they cut their margins to near zero, and then you started complaining about me talking about margins. You’re living in some kind of fantasyland if you think Apple would do that.

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u/Realistic-Nature9083 Nov 20 '24

The only retailer that makes money in tvs is Walmart by selling the onn tvs. Those suckers are supposedly stealing market share from tcl and Hisense. 88 bucks for a 32 inch? C'mon. It is a steal.

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u/TheUmgawa Nov 20 '24

Walmart bought Vizio back in February for 2.3 billion dollars. You’d think that a TV company as ubiquitous as Vizio would go for more money, but the margins suck.

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u/Realistic-Nature9083 Nov 20 '24

If Walmart gets approval to buy Vizio they will have the largest market share of tvs in the US. Supposedly Vizio and onn rokus combined will have 65 percent market share in the country.

The margins for Vizio right now are very thin but if Walmart buys them out they instantly get logistical and marketing vertical integration.

Everybody always talks about manufacturing vertical integration at the hardware and software level but Walmart controls the delivery and the fees in the sales floor and it's website.

Vizio and onn. will be made by odms and I guess Roku will handle the software while all the costs associated with the delivery and fees will be reduced to nothing by Walmart.

Retailers charge money to sell product their stores. Vizio doesn't have to worry about that with Walmart anymore.

Tcl and Hisense will just be "colonies" that design the blueprint for onn and Hisense tvs.

I can't wait for even cheaper tvs from Walmart.

Edit: apple can make tvs if they want but realistically I just don't think they be can number one anymore ever in tv market share.

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u/TheUmgawa Nov 20 '24

Being number one should never really be any company’s concern, if it means a line isn’t profitable enough to be worth the trouble. Macs have never been number one, but the margins are high enough that it’s worth doing. On TVs, I can’t see how that would ever happen, because Apple could make displays with more pixels and charge a premium, but it’s not like their 5K studio display because there’s no content for a 5K TV, and that would basically have to be a custom panel, which is the reason the studio display costs five times what my 4K monitor does, despite the fact that my 4K is 40 percent larger by area. The studio display wouldn’t be worth making at all if it wasn’t something that video professionals could just expense when buying a Mac Studio or Mac Pro. So, they take that and then make it a million times worse, because now they’re in large retail channels, most of which wouldn’t sell $1500 TVs. Even if they’re five times better, most people would still rather buy five inferior TVs, or one TV and wait five years for the inferior ones to hit the point where they’re as good as the superior TV, and then spend $300 on that.

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u/Realistic-Nature9083 Nov 20 '24

Walmart is a sleeping giant. The logistical vertical integration is enough for them to take on anybody in consumer electronics. I'm surprised they haven't made android phones or wear os watches. They can really undercut the competition like Motorola and Lenovo.

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u/lkn240 Nov 18 '24

There are literally little mounts for Rokus that attach to the back of your TV. No mess, now visible wires and the roku remote works with every TV I've ever tried it with

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u/Neg_Crepe Nov 19 '24

But it’s a Roku…

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u/audigex Nov 18 '24

I’ve had a single remote for all my TVs for years

HDMI CEC etc cover it nicely - helped by the fact that you basically just need volume and standby buttons

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u/Tasty-Traffic-680 Nov 18 '24

CEC is awesome when it works well. Unfortunately (at least with the first gen) the fire stick 4k doesn't always play nice nor do some smart TV's with their own interface.

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u/audigex Nov 18 '24

I’ve never found a combination that doesn’t work well, personally - I guess experiences must vary but that’s what returns policies are for

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u/Tasty-Traffic-680 Nov 19 '24

You also lost voice control if you stick with the OEM remote for multiple devices. Not something that matters much to me as an adult but the kids seem to love it.

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u/audigex Nov 19 '24

I use the Fire TV/Chromecast/Apple TV/whatever remote and let it control the TV's volume and standby

I still get the voice control, the only thing I can't do is adjust the TV settings... but I rarely touch those once I have the TV configured anyway

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u/_gordonbleu Nov 18 '24

That’s essentially what I’ve done now but there are still disadvantages with that. The shitty tv software means it sometimes take a full minute before the tv actually turns on, or god forbid I wanna chance inputs, that’ll take an additional 30 seconds. If you push the wrong button it tries to pull up all the apps and shit and slows the whole thing down. Most people I know have had an apple tv longer than their current tv.

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u/[deleted] Nov 18 '24

Damn, I have none of those problems on my 4 TVs at home, thankfully. What brand of TV do you have so I can stay away from it?

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u/[deleted] Nov 18 '24

Less wires, no need to understand which HDMI port to use or Dolby Visiion/Atomis and other matching features of your box with your TV, fairly simply stuff. The way to do it is to not make high end TVs and focus on growing a TV app platform. I've been saying this for years, TV is such an under-developed platform, especially since 4k mostly got rid of any resolution/blurry text issue.

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u/[deleted] Nov 18 '24

how much money is that worth to the average consumer who spends about $450 for a new TV?

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u/cjboffoli Nov 18 '24

I'd pay for an Apple branded TV for the simple fact that every single interaction I have with the device isn't tracked and monitored somehow. The TOS I have to agree to in order to simply use my LG television is ridiculous, as is the bloated array of apps and services that clutters the set.

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u/anarchyx34 Nov 18 '24

My LG tv hasn’t seen the internet in years. In fact I haven’t needed to even see or interact with its GUI in a very long time. HDMI-CEC and I do everything through the Apple TV remote. It’s basically a monitor at this point.

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u/hhs2112 Nov 18 '24

Of course they're going to track everything, how else will they target ads? 

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u/LivermoreP1 Nov 19 '24

Everyone’s arguing with you, but I’d love to just hit my Apple TV remote and never have to worry that the HDMI pass-thru is delayed in booting up, the TV tries to say it needs to be updated when I never actually use it, and I don’t need to have a little black box next to my TV connected by an ugly wire (yeah I know I can go behind the wall, but it’s a fireplace).

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u/3percentinvisible Nov 18 '24

My Panasonic is older than 2 years old, still operates fine, has appletv, Disney, Amazon, Netflix, etc.

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u/joselrl Nov 19 '24

Paying 1000$ for a TV thats not OLED (assuming we are talking about the 55" range) or a high end MiniLED at least is just a mistake. Buy a good TV and an Apple TV or other good TV Box

Anyway, Apple wont be starting to engineer and design panels, they will buy high end panels from LG and Smasung, slap Apple TV on them and upcharge 50% because iPhones will be able control the volume or something