Munster: Apple HDTV coming within a year, cost double a comparable set

An Apple television mockup is for illustrative purposes only – don’t read too much into it.

More iTV rumors are starting to emerge today, this time once again originating from analyst Gene Munster who took the stage at this morning’s IGNITION: Future of Media event (via BusinessInsider). Munster has been saying ‘next year’ for an Apple HDTV for years, but with the revelation in the Walter Isaacson ‘Steve Jobs’ bio, his claims today might worth taking a look at.

Munster is quite certain in an Apple HDTV being launched before the 2012 holiday season, approximately a year from now. He seemed confident on some of the intricacies of the device as well. So confident he apparently told audience members to hold off on purchasing a TV from another manufacturer. This is what he claims (most of which we’ve heard before)…

The Apple HDTV will be fully-capable, standalone television and not an accessory or Apple TV-like set-top box. The TV will come in a range of sizes to appeal to a wide variety of consumers at different price points, although will apparently come in at twice the average cost of HDTVs from other vendors. Cable tv and cable boxes will still be supported via a single coaxial cable, but navigation will be done using an iPad, iPhone, or Siri. There was also, not so surprisingly, mention of iTunes, App Store, and iCloud integration.