Technology journalists who follow Apple closely know one thing for sure every time they interview the company’s phone analysts after quarterly earnings. They know that analyst Gene Munster will ask Apple when it will launch a TV. Mr. Munster has been doing that quarterly for years. But so far, Apple’s TV hasn’t appeared. Now, there are reports once again that the Apple TV (the actual big-screen TV, not the streaming boxes that Apple already sells) is back up and running. We’ll probably see Apple TVs leaving the company’s labs and factories within the next few months, or perhaps even years. But I think they should make another Apple TV instead of a TV.
More than just a streaming box, another Apple TV is now such a low-hanging fruit that it would be almost sacrilegious on Apple’s part not to do it. All the ingredients are in place for Apple to create the Apple TV, which is not only a streaming box, but also a gaming console similar to the Microsoft Xbox or Sony PlayStation.
Let’s look at it from this angle. Devices like the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 Pro have three key components. One is the chipset that gives these consoles the ability to run games. The second thing is the gaming ecosystem and the availability of games that people want to play. And third, the people who are willing to buy it. I believe Apple already has two of these components.
M4 is powerful enough
When it comes to hardware, Apple is already at the level of the latest Xbox and Playstation. Xbox Series X has a chip made by AMD. Performance is approximately 12 Tflops. The PlayStation 5 Pro, a slightly beefed-up version of the PS5, also has a chip made by AMD, and that chip has a performance of around 16 Tflops. These numbers are in line with what the latest Apple chips, the M4 Pro and M4 Max, can offer through their graphics units. Apple chip numbers range from 8 Tflops to 17 Tflops depending on the variant, but if Apple wanted to include a chip on par with the one in the PS5 Pro or Xbox Series X, it’s no exaggeration to say it could do it tomorrow. Not. By tuning and binning one of the M4s.
In fact, Apple has a significantly faster chip. The Ultra version of M3 already has over 20 Tflops of graphics cores. And some variants of the M4 Ultra scheduled to launch in 2025 will likely be closer to 30 flops, offering nearly twice the horsepower that a PlayStation or Xbox can manage.
By putting these chips in the MacBook Pro and Mac Mini, Apple also demonstrated that they can fit into small boxes without the need for complex cooling. In other words, aside from some economics that I’m not familiar with, there’s nothing stopping Apple from putting one of these ultra-fast M-series chips in the Apple TV and turning it into a gaming console. .
I believe the third part of the equation, the consumer, is also there. According to some research companies, there will be approximately 34 million Apple TVs in use in the United States by 2024. Even if we use a more conservative estimate, it’s safe to say that there are approximately 55-60 million Apple TVs in operation. This is no small feat for non-essential devices like iPhones and Macs. In fact, Apple rarely promotes Apple TV, and so far has been content to keep it almost like a side project and update it every two to three years. If this little box not only plays the role of streaming and entertainment, but also helps people play AAA games, I’m sure it will gain more support among consumers.
Requires AAA game
But it’s the second factor that’s troubling for Apple: the availability of AAA games. But I believe this too can be resolved with a more robust Apple TV. Solving the AAA gaming puzzle has become important for Apple in recent years. Despite the company’s efforts, the game has not yet appeared, even though Hideo Kojima attended last year’s WWDC in Cupertino. Lately, as I’ve been reviewing things with M-series chipsets, I’ve noticed a lack of AAA games that hold them back. Something like the MacBook Pro M4 is an incredibly powerful laptop, but it’s overkill for many average consumers. The lack of availability of top games is what turns many consumers away from the MacBook Pro. There are many people who want to work and play. It’s not just about working on a 200,000 rupee laptop. Unless you’re editing video or doing programming or simulation, you don’t need the power that chips like the M4 Pro and M4 Max offer.
An impressive list of AAA games, including the latest Call of Duty, will make your Apple computer even more appealing than it actually is. And an Apple TV with a robust graphics chip might encourage more game developers to come into the Apple camp and create games for it.
In some ways, but not all, as business issues, Apple’s purchase reductions and the overall cost-benefit ratio are also taken into account, the lack of AAA games on Apple platforms is a chicken-and-egg situation for game developers. It could be a question of which comes first. What comes first? Games or devices that can play them? Previously, Apple didn’t have chipsets that could be used for serious gaming. And while they could always use AMD or Nvidia graphics chips to make the platform more gaming-friendly, that math probably never worked out. But now Apple has a chance to do so.
Personally, I would be happy if there was a device under the TV in the drawing room that could be used as a box that could do anything. I believe Apple has a chance to create such a box. The company may call it Apple TV Pro. Such boxes also require larger chips and associated gaming hardware such as more storage, which obviously increases the price. However, it is unclear whether consumers will care about a reasonable price increase when competing with the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 Pro, which cost over Rs 50,000.
