A Steve Jobs quote once inspired a years-long fascination with the idea of Apple building a TV set. The product never came to fruition, but the dream lives on, stoked by a new Mark Gurman rumor that Apple is now ‘evaluating’ making a TV. Here are five reasons I think Apple absolutely should make its own TV.
It’s already an area of expertise
Apple may not have built a TV set before, but it has all the skill and experience it needs.
- displays are an Apple specialty, including this year’s M4 iPad Pro with ‘the world’s most advanced display’
- speakers and sound are similarly big strengths for Apple, not only with AirPods and HomePods, but also the speakers built into devices like the iMac
- it already has a TV operating system in tvOS; it’s not perfect, but the pieces are there
In short, making a great TV set wouldn’t be that hard for Apple. And Apple’s brand strength in these areas would help shoppers be able to better swallow a premium price point.
The privacy angle
Apple places a lot of importance on user privacy. And guess what? Modern TV sets are terrible when it comes to privacy.
Smart TVs sell data about what you’re watching to third parties, who then advertise to you on that same TV through ads on your home screen, screensavers, and more. It’s a bad user experience, and Apple creating a privacy-first TV set could be a great selling point.
Apple can’t win the home without winning in TV
TV sets tend to be the central home device. Not everyone has smart speakers or smart light bulbs, but almost everyone has a TV.
If Apple truly wants to get serious about winning the home, building a TV set will be a key part of that.
Offering the Apple TV 4K isn’t enough. Most people will always view that as an unnecessary purchase, since their TV set already has streaming apps built in.
Buying a TV set plus an Apple TV 4K is a no-go for many. But they might be swayed into buying an Apple TV set the next time they need a new TV—even if they’re actually spending more in the end.
Once someone welcomes an Apple TV set into their home, they’re more likely to buy HomePods, HomePads, and other smart home devices.
TV margins may be small, but services revenue could be big
An Apple TV would probably come with especially thin margins for the company.
So, from a financial standpoint, why do it at all? Because of the services revenue.
Owners of an Apple TV set are more likely to buy into Apple’s existing services. An extended Apple One trial, for example, would be a no-brainer inclusion with every TV purchase. That way users can get a taste of Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, and Apple Music at no additional charge. Then when the trial runs out, a good chunk of users will keep ponying up.
An even bigger deal, potentially, is the cut of revenue Apple would earn from third-party apps and services on its platform. Just like it does on the Apple TV 4K, Apple would benefit from taking a percentage of subscription revenue.
Apple Intelligence and the ‘HomePad’
There’s a lot of overlap between what the upcoming ‘HomePad’ device can do and what would make sense for a standalone TV set.
Siri’s Apple Intelligence upgrades coming this spring could prove especially compelling for users. Having your TV set transform into a voice-first computing platform—if it actually works well—would be great. Not only for TV viewing, but also for controlling home devices, viewing important data through widgets, and more.
Apple TV wrap-up
Apple creating a standalone TV set is still mostly a pipe dream. But I don’t think it should be. I hope the company ‘evaluating’ a TV leads to a real product this time.
Most iPhone users will never spend premium money on a TV set when cheaper options are out there. But lots of us absolutely would.
What do you think? Should Apple create a TV set? Let us know in the comments.
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