Apple HDTV vs. Apple TV HD
Everyone's favorite and always accurate source, "analysts," have been jumping up and down over the past few days saying, "You guys! You guys! Seriously! Apple's making an HDTV! I'm serious, you guys, it's coming out later this year!"
This is another one of those Rumors that Just Won't Die, right alongside such perennial zombie products as an Apple-branded phone and an Apple-branded tablet -- wait, those products actually exist? Hmm. Well, does that mean the analysts are on to something? Or are they just on something?
Speculation has run wild over this whole Apple HDTV issue, with half the interested parties saying there's absolutely no way Apple will make its own HDTV, ever, and here's the charts and data to prove it, so there. The other half has instead wondered what exactly an HDTV from Apple might be like, and as usual, the feature wishlists exploded into Star Trek fanfiction territory by the end of the afternoon. Starry-eyed wishers have started throwing out phrases like, "Apple will re-define the TV," and "Apple will free us from the tyranny of the cable box" -- all without any proof of the product's existence, or any realistic notions of its specs, features, price, distribution channel, ad infinitum.
Will Apple make an HDTV? At this point I'd say the safe bet is no, but keep in mind that Apple's not exactly a company that's built on safe bets. Lots of people thought the Macintosh would fail in 1984. Instead, it re-invented how the general public interacted with computers. In 2001, Apple introduced the iPod, a product that Slashdot famously dismissed as "lame," and changed how people interact with music. The iPhone and iPad are still sending shock waves through their respective industries. Apple does have a history of stepping into established spaces with existing products and turning the whole thing on its head, but the question is, what can you do to a TV to make it more than a TV?
Google has already made its effort at supercharging the TV experience with Google TV, and the results have been less than stellar. The challenges are in usability and, more important to Google and its hardware partners Sony and Logitech, from a sales perspective. The hurdle that Apple (or any other manufacturer) has to clear is people have become used to thinking of their TVs as nothing more than the shiny box that shows pictures piped in from another box somewhere else.
My own living room is a good example of this. I've got a PS3, Wii, and a VGA cable I can hook into one of my Macs if I want to watch something via iTunes or EyeTV. My TV doesn't have a tuner, isn't connected to the internet, and doesn't even play sound through its built-in speakers -- all the audio is piped through my surround sound system. My TV is basically nothing more than a glorified monitor, and without all the various boxes plugged into it, it would be as useless as a computer display without a computer hooked into it.
A lot of the speculation surrounding an Apple-branded HDTV suggests Apple would upend this "TV plus boxes" mentality and bake a lot of the media functionality right into the TV itself. Instead of a dumb rectangle that merely pumps out whatever signals are fed into it from infinitely smarter boxes elsewhere, this hypothetical Apple HDTV would be connected to the internet, and more lucratively for Apple, to the iTunes Store. This is the part that has a lot of wishful thinkers excited about "freeing us from the tyranny of the cable companies," because they'd have access to media right through their TV, without having to pay a monthly bill.
If all of this is sounding familiar to you by now, congratulations, you've been paying attention to the tech sector for the past several years. The Apple HDTV product that people are imagining already (sort of) exists, and it's called Apple TV. Except instead of a big LCD TV that requires huge amounts of warehouse space, massive shipping costs, and razor-thin hardware margins because of high production costs, the Apple TV is a box that fits in the palm of your hand, can be stacked 100 units high in the warehouse with room to spare, and probably costs Apple less than US$50 to make.
I think all these analysts that are getting excited about an Apple HDTV simply have their alphabet soup mixed up, and as usual, they need to moderate their expectations. Instead of an Apple HDTV, this fall we should be expecting an Apple TV HD. It's nothing as outlandishly sexy as an Apple-branded LCD monitor with LED backlighting, 600 Hz motion-flow, 3D, 15 gazillion HDMI ports, wireless A/V streaming, built-in internet functionality, and a free pony. Instead, the Apple TV HD is just the same unassuming oversized hockey puck as the current Apple TV, with one exception. Driven by the A5 processor that powers the iPad 2, the Apple TV HD is capable of streaming full 1080p video content instead of being limited to 720p like the A4-powered product now on shelves. It's connected to the iTunes Store just like the current model, but it's still another box that hooks into your poor, dumb HDTV just like all the other boxes.
An Apple TV HD may not be as awe-inspiring as the prospect of an Apple HDTV, but it's a much more realistic prospect. Look at it this way: other than the Mac Pro and 27" iMac, Apple doesn't do big products like an HDTV; most of its products are small enough to shove into a suitcase, backpack, or pants pocket. Unlike a $2000 Apple HDTV, a $99 Apple TV HD is also something I'd buy. Up until this point I haven't been too excited about the Apple TV, but once it's able to wirelessly stream full 1080p HD, I'll be first in line to buy one.
This may be my poverty talking for me, but I'm having a hard time imagining anybody running to their nearest Apple Store and replacing their existing HDTV sets with whatever "magical" piece of $2000 kit Apple comes out with. My colleague Megan Lavey has pointed out that Apple's already made one attempt at a "high-end" A/V product: the iPod Hi-Fi, a product so "tremendously successful" that it vanished from Apple's shelves (and collective memory) about a year after its introduction. She thinks an Apple HDTV would probably be a repeat of that failure, and I can't say I disagree with her.
We've become used to the TV becoming the dumb center of our entertainment systems, little more than a glorified projector. If anyone can do something to change that perception it's Apple, but the one thing the analysts haven't told us yet is why Apple would even want to. Apple likes to make products that satisfy and even delight its customers, but the company also likes to make money -- and an Apple HDTV might be too long of a bet for Apple to back.
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Source: http://tuaw.com/tag/appletv
Everyone's favorite and always accurate source, "analysts," have been jumping up and down over the past few days saying, "You guys! You...
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If Apple would add app-support to the ATV, and of course the A5, it would be amazing! Imagine being able to do netflix, hulu, facebook, youtube and of course Plex! Maybe also being able to use the iPhone as a remote to play games on the ATV.. Wow! I would by that thing ;)
April 23 2011 at 5:34 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyApple could improve by taking some pointers from Google TV. I just got the Logitech Revue with Google TV from DISH Network and it’s just great! My favorite thing about it is Google Chrome; I love being able to surf the internet on the same screen as my TV shows. I really like the variety of apps available too. I can get movies with the Netflix app, watch funny videos with the YouTube app, or listen to my favorite music with the Pandora app. I work for DISH so I knew a lot about the Revue before I got it but I had no idea I’d use it so much.
April 20 2011 at 5:05 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyAlthough I do think an Apple HDTV is not imminent, I do think the "TV is nothing more than a monitor with other boxes attached". This may be true for the tech-savvy community (present company included) who own many macs and who enjoy hooking up stuff to their TV.
But I would bet that the Apple HDTV will be aimed at the other 95% of the market who still use their TV in a traditional one box hooked to just cable setup.
Apple has a strong trackrecord of multiplying the markets for tech stuff, reaching audiences where no tech company had gone before. Many if not most iPhone buyers were first time Apple buyers and first time smartphone buyers. same with the iPad and iPod.
The point of an Apple HDTV will not be to beat the Apple TV in the surround sound, mac-connected setup, but to deliver a superior experience to the ordinary TV setup of the average consumer.
"Unlike a $2000 Apple HDTV, a $99 Apple TV HD is also something I'd buy."
There it is. Apple really is moving farther and farther away from huge (and hugely expensive) hardware. They now only make one LCD display. The Mac Pro is basically targeted at a niche professional market. XServe is done. They're finally realizing the dream of "Internet appliance" that Steve has always wanted. The AppleTV is an extension of that. And the smallness of these devices is its own catalyst for widespread adoption.
All this crap about Apple making a high-end HDTV is ill-considered, and always has been. They'll never do such a thing, because no one needs such a thing. It would be a colossal failure if they did. If the AppleTV is not a smashing success in its own right at $99, there's no way in hell an Apple HDTV would ever be compelling for many people at all.
This only makes sense. If Apple were going to delve into the TV market, they'd only do it if they were going to have the ability to sit at the high-end of the market like they do with all their other products. There is no way that Apple could make a good enough TV to compete with the quality already out there. The feature Apple would be looking to control is the media and experience. They know they're better off letting someone else make the perfect TV (where there is plenty of good competition and great existing products) for your living room while they create the better user experience (where there is virtually no compettition).
April 19 2011 at 9:09 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThere's one factor that I think most commentary is overlooking: Apple designs for global markets, not just for America, and the TV situation is very different in other countries.
In the UK, for instance, less than half the population has pay TV, and only half the population uses satellite/cable. Germany, the biggest TV market in Europe, has an underperforming pay TV sector and free-to-air TV dominates. In Australia, satellite/cable only has about 15-20% market penetration. And so on.
And then there's the fact that North and South America, Japan, Taiwan, and a few other countries use NTSC, and the rest of the world uses PAL or SECAM. That's a big technology split which significantly increases development cost and complexifies logistics, which is contrary to the way Apple generally prefers to do things.
All of this means that there's no one unified conformation, or small range of conformations, that Apple can sell; they'd need a different range of models for every country's cable/satellite standards, and for NTSC/PAL/SECAM.
It seems like a lot of effort to go to for dubious success, to be honest. Obviously, never say never; Apple surprises us a lot of the time - but this doesn't seem like a good bet.
If you are going to think about this question it's good to begin by defining what a "TV" actually is. Is it a cathode ray tube using vacuum tubes to amplify an analog over the air signal? That would be a totally obsolete definition.
"TV" currently is really no more than a monitor with a very oversimplified computer which happens to be located in the same case.
From this perspective, Apple will have nothing to do with it.
I'm writing this on a 30" Cinema display which outclasses anything the "TV" industry will probably ever make as does my Panasonic 1080P projector and 8' screen. The next step is "4K" (4096 x 1700) which the new Final Cut Pro supports and produces an image comparable to what you see on a 60' screen in a "theater".
I would go further and urge regulators to hand over all "TV" frequency's to internet protocol. The very idea of scheduled one-to-many "broadcasts" is dead, but the "public" will probably require another 20 years to wake up to this. Steve knew all this 20 years ago.
Doesn't anyone remember the flap about the Japanese early lead in analog HDTV? The American computer industry told congress to relax because this was already completely obsolete. They were absolutely right and still are.
Chris,
I'm disappointed by your article. I generally like your work and, for me, TUAW is one of the most consistently stimulating and rewarding blog sites I visit regularly.
Apple products are not for everyone. They have said that. Nor are Mercedes cars or Omega watches or Linn HiFi, to name a very few.
You congratulate people on understanding enough of the tech backstory on this issue to get the point you're making, but you don't whack yourself (gently) on the head for missing the most important points germane to this Apple HDTV issue.
You worry about high shipping costs, but you don't see that there are super-profits to be made ..... once the market is ready for TV.2.
There are many reasons why Apple may or may not introduce an HDTV. We know that they have agonised about this for years and they have publicly stated that the world does not need another STB and nor will the masses pay for one - even at a miserly $99.
Looks unpromising, I agree. Maybe.
And yet, where is the profit potential in a super-cheap product like the AppleTV? This is mere petty cash for Apple, isn't it?
However....
If you think $2,000 is a lot to pay for an HDTV, you really should travel and learn. Come to London. I'll buy you a pint and show you around the dreary premium TV market. Have you checked the price of high-end TV sets from B&O or Loewe and others? America really is but a small part of the world Chris. As I say, do try and get out more often.
You have stated that Apple likes to enter large markets. They just lurve markets with good product turnover (churn), or multiple purchases of a single product category (cars, TVs, phones, computers etc.) by families. But you fret that there is no money to be made in the TV market.
And yet there is.
You worry that there is nothing more that can be done to add significant value to the humble TV set. And yet we know, we really do know, that Apple is the master of added value and sector disruption..... usually by doing things the right way.
I believe Apple have waited for the right moment to arrive for launching an Apple HDTV.
We know, that they knew, that it would take time for the world to be 'made Apple-ready' for that overdue revolution in the living room.
We know that they introduced the idea of a Digital Hub ten years or so ago.
A digital hub to make us masters of our own media (iLife, iTunes iOS etc.).
A lifestyle hub for content consumption.
A hub that in its early iterations and with the addition of the right building blocks along the way (devices, ecosystems, stores etc), has disrupted many markets in, and well outside the world of tech. Seriously tectonic disruption that we are still feeling strong aftershocks from today.
We know that Apple likes BIG markets.
We know that Apple likes to innovate and add value.
We know that Apple is customer-centric to the point of 'joy and delight' obsessions.
We know that Apple doesn't do cheap and nasty. AppleTV and iPad are cheap and nice!
We know that Apple likes making big margins, serving high-end customers with high-end (but high-value) products.
We know that an HDTV is but a simple audio/visual transducer, but one that is on everyone's wish list and many people have several TVs scattered around their homes.
I'm sorry to labour the point like this, but here is something that Apple has laboured at for along time and chafed at the bit too, in its eagerness to get going and ship some real products into the HDTV space. What a fine vehicle for selling content into by the billions.
Apple has spent years testing the market with its so-called hobby product.
Apple has spent almost 15 years building a true mega Brand with global recognition for vision, customer-centricity and care, quality, innovation, real and residual value, ecosystem depth and general excellence (!).
Apple doesn't do hobbies. They really don't. They kill a lot of product ideas with no hint of mercy if they are judged not to have mass market appeal at a high margin point.
I think that their patience and their careful preparation of the market is about to come to fruition. The world knows Apple and it's ready for an Apple HDTV at Apple prices and value-propositions.
There is a huge market for a new kind of TV that is much more than a TV. I'm positing a TV that is a KEY node in the domestic digital lifestyle hub idea.
AppleTV 2 astonished us by its hugely downsized dimensions and pricing.
iPad shocked the world with its low low price and high value proposition.
Unlike AppleTV1, the latest version is selling strongly and it is attracting attention well outside tech-centric circles (geekdom).
Many people have noted that both AppleTVs were pretty good computers running variants of a pretty powerful OS. Indeed, the first AppleTV was hacked to run as a computer, just to prove
When the design attributes of Apple look at a technological device, the conclusion they arrive at is usually fundamentally unique.
Music player -> iPod.
Cell phone -> iPhone.
Edit program -> iMovie.
So I would be very interested to see how they would redefine a TV set. One might imagine a number of different "modes" that collected, and made available, data on the subject matter, dramatic touchpoints, peripheral factoids and wiki ticks while the main display ran the show.
App that TV!
I think Apple needs to bring aggregation to video entertainment. Here's an example: let me, using a super-cool, easy-to-use, guide, set up recordings (Season Pass in TiVo lingo) for the Apple Byte (Web source), CSI (cable or web), and something from YouTube.
The software figures out where to get it, gets it, and makes it available to me in my video playlist. I can then watch it on by big TV (via Apple TV), my iPhone, my iPad, my Macbook, my iMac, etc.
There are 2 key components: a guide that lets me find stuff by name, date, time, and "channel" (whatever that is) and has a 1-click record feature.
If I need to set up accounts and payments, fine, it should prompt me for those and then I don't want to think about it.
Apple TV can probably do all that, although it may need a cable card or two.
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TUAW (or The Unofficial Apple Weblog) is a website devoted to tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple.
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