There are a plethora of TV stick streaming devices on the market today, offering consumers an affordable path to continuous media consumption. On a good day, something like the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K can be yours for just $29.99whereas currently, you have to pay $129 for an Apple TV 4K. In terms of functionality, both devices share the same purpose when it comes to streaming content, but there was a time when Apple toyed with the idea of releasing something similar.
Unfortunately, one rumor claims that the TV Stick would have been “cheap,” and the company’s marketing team wanted to focus on “premium” hardware. In retrospect, that decision turned out to be a bad move, as consumers gravitated toward content subscriptions rather than owning any specific hardware. You may have also noticed that the company rarely markets the Apple TV, and with the previous iteration having launched in 2022, it’s clear that the product isn’t a major focus.
Apple also reportedly lost $20 billion on producing original content, revealing that its strength may not lie in the streaming and entertainment business.
A few years ago, Apple had the right idea to launch a TV stick, but Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman wrote in a blog post on X that the company’s marketing team believed that such a device would be considered low-end and not in line with its business philosophy of releasing premium hardware. Sure, even current-generation TV sticks from Amazon or Roku are made of plastic and ship with a rudimentary remote, but their primary purpose of allowing users to stream content was the end goal.
The current-generation Apple TV 4K features an A15 Bionic, and in the X thread, a discussion has arisen about the potential lack of cooling capacity for the TV stick had it been released. However, people often forget that the tech giant has a desktop-grade M3 that’s running in the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air, with the M4 powering the innards of the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro, working just fine with just a small heatsink.
Apple’s marketing killed this idea a few years ago, I believe. They thought it was too cheap/low-quality and wanted to keep the box “premium”. Completely wrong move, given how important content subscriptions are to the box’s hardware. I have to imagine they’re rethinking this. https://t.co/It5xKK0Om0
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) August 30, 2024
With the TV Stick, Apple could mass-produce an aluminum chassis to act as the same heatsink, and even if the device’s size and thickness were increased slightly to improve heat dissipation, we’re confident the company would deliver. After all, the A15 Bionic doesn’t need a sufficient amount of cooling, or a fan, as it was also found in previous-generation iPhones.
Gurman believes Apple is rethinking its product strategy on this front, which is an excellent idea given that thousands have switched to streaming subscriptions. Plus, with Apple TV+ widely available across multiple platforms, it makes more sense for a TV stick to materialize.
News source: Gurman Brand