Is the Apple TV Still Relevant?

Apple had the chance of building something great in your living room for a while. However, the Apple TV was always just a hobby for the Cupertino folks. With so many HDMI TV sticks and boxes, why is the Apple TV still relevant on the market? Long story short: This is Apple"s way to get closer to the biggest screen in your house. 

Rumors about the release of a real TV with a built-in display and the functionality of the black box we currently find on the market were wide spread for over two years. But Apple did not release any new device.

The "Why"

Apple is not afraid to compete with Samsung or Sony. They proved they can release a gorgeous Retina 5K iMac for a great price. The cost of adding a TV module inside the case, a tuner and the innards of an Apple TV was really small. But this is not the way Apple does things around here.

Nobody buys TVs every year. Why would you spend $3000 (2700 €) for something that will be considered outdated in two years? Besides, who would throw away that much money when you can get a $69 box that connects via HDMI to your existing TV and gives you the same functionality.

Sure enough, the screen would be really nice and the TV may run OS X so you can do whatever you want on it, from playing games to surfing the web. Yet again, a TV that sits on a stand or on the wall, sporting a Retina display would not be easily readable from 2 meters away so you need to run it in some sort of TV-mode.

I strongly believe that Apple did not release the TV yet just because they do not have all the pieces of the puzzle.

The "What"

So what makes a great TV experience? For starters, a god way to surf the channels. Having a remote that has only three buttons does not work in 2015. Sure you can use your iPhone as a remote. It can even double as a game controller, but can you leave your phone on the couch? Can you pass it on from one family member to another? I know. Using a touch screen makes it really easy to couch-surf.

One good way to use it is to be able to have a Kinect-like experience. Air-gestures would make a great interface. Not necessarily something that looks like the stuff in "Minority Report"...

Another big "What" is the content. Apple conquered the Music Business by selling songs one by one, not as a package. Selling TV stations one by one, or even trying to sell TV shows only makes it hard to begin with. Netflix or Amazon , Hulu and other online services have opened flood gates, but content is king. Apple may afford to get into the movie business, but they cannot be bothered to do that.

Apple Music and Beats One is a good example of a business built upon the content users want to buy. Creating a video infrastructure proved more difficult than they thought it would be.

The "How (much)"

The current Apple TV is $69. There are rumors that Apple is getting ready to release a $199 model that offers improved functionality. They cannot go higher that because nobody would buy such a device.

But what if you can pair it with two iPhones and have those two act like game controllers? Better yet, what if you can use your regular game controller with that? Suddenly, a $199 item does make more sense and having the same device in a small package might get your attention.

I'm not even going to get into a discussion about a real TV. An Apple product that goes over $3,500 must be something built to last about 5 years. Who would keep an Apple TV around for 5 years? And this circles back to the things it can do. A Samsung SMART TV gets updated every year. Not talking about software releases, but by releasing new models. The one from this year has a fresh coat of paint and an upgraded processor. It is not the "H5500," but the "J5520" and it costs $200 more.

The "Why not"

Apple has the money and the power it needs to develop an awesome new device. But having just a black box next to your TV is not enough.

I would love to see the same black bow turned into a wireless router with Time Capsule functionality. I want to see the small box be the center piece of my HomeKit devices. I want to be able to watch TV, play games, surf the web and run my surveillance system. I would gladly pay not $199, but $399 for such a device and wireless storage unit.

Will Apple build it? In 2015 we are getting close to that, but they need to find another name for it.