One of the more notable Apple rumors of the past 15 years has been resurrected. Writing for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman says that Apple is currently evaluating the “idea of making an Apple-branded TV set.” While I’d normally scoff at this type of report, Gurman has a stellar track record concerning Apple rumors, so it’s certainly worth mentioning.
Also, who can really be surprised? We now live in a world where anything, no matter how outlandish, is seemingly possible. After all, a 58-year-old Mike Tyson recently stepped into the ring with social media influencer and aspiring boxer Jake Paul.
Getting back on track, Gurman doesn’t go into much detail about Apple’s plans but notes that Apple’s theoretical foray into the smart TV space may come alongside a more concerted effort to release integrated products for the home. Remember, just a few days ago word spread that Apple is planning to release a wall-mounted smart-home device sometime in March of 2025.
An old rumor is new again
Every few years, the blogosphere becomes enamored with reports of Apple releasing a fantastical new product. The most recent example centered on Apple designing and releasing its own electric vehicle, an initiative that, in my opinion, was always too ambitious to be practical. As we know now, Apple devoted a lot of R&D resources to its EV project, only to formally cancel it in 2024.
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But before the Apple Car, there was the Apple-branded TV. For years, rumors swirled regarding Apple’s plans to release its own smart TV, with some of these rumors going back more than 15 years. And if you listened to analysts at the time, an Apple smart TV was all but a sure thing. The only question, they claimed, was a matter of when, not if. Of course, Apple also abandoned its smart TV initiative in 2015, after nearly 10 years of exploratory and developmental work.
An Apple HDTV makes less sense now than ever
An Apple HDTV with integrated Apple TV functionality was arguably intriguing many years ago. After all, smart TVs weren’t yet common, and there were rumblings that Apple might be able to deliver a best-in-class user experience with respect to picture quality and the overall user experience.
Fast forward to 2024, and smart TVs have been commoditized. The days of having to spend over $1,000 for a solid smart TV are long gone. These days, you can pick up a decently impressive Samsung for a few hundred bucks. And if you’re looking to be more economical, you can easily buy a more budget-friendly 55-inch TV from a company like TCL. And for folks who aren’t TV fiends, they might not even be able to discern a huge difference in picture quality. Hook that puppy up to a Roku or Apple TV, and you instantly have an impressive setup.
Put simply, what’s the appeal of an Apple smart TV for consumers?
Additionally, the smart TV space is notorious for razor-thin margins, which is something Apple historically shies away from. And if Apple won’t compete on price, it’s hard to fathom Apple coming out with a premium HDTV capable of offering users a huge improvement in picture quality or user experience.
It’s important to remember that Apple’s iPhone, and the iPod before it, succeeded because those products entered markets that were devoid of innovation and quality. The smart TV market, however, is certainly not short on sophisticated players constantly releasing better products year after year. Simply put, there isn’t much room for Apple to make a huge dent in the TV market by offering a meaningfully better experience. You’d be well-advised to take this rumor with a heaping grain of salt.
