Apple should make a Fire TV Stick rival not its own TV, says expert

There has been some chatter of late that Apple is once again exploring the idea of launching its own TV-set.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently reported the company was considering an Apple-branded TV, which is on top of suggestions it is also considering an iPad-like smart home device to rival the likes of Amazon's Echo Show and Google's Nest Hub.

This isn't the first time Apple has been rumoured to be considering stepping into the TV market, going up against the best TVs from Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and LG, but whether or not it might actually happen this time remains questionable.

What if it didn't make an Apple-branded TV at all though and instead made an Amazon Fire TV Stick rival that you could plug into a HDMI port in the back of your current TV and access Apple's tvOS interface and services? That's what Gurman thinks the company should do, and we wouldn't disagree. It's something we have wanted for years.

In his opinion piece on Bloomberg, he says the current Apple TV box is "lagging behind rival products, and the company’s best video-watching device — the Vision Pro — is years away from being a consumer hit".

He adds that, "If Apple offered a cheap and quick way to access tvOS, the App Store and services on any TV, it could quickly create a foothold and increase its services revenue." He wouldn't be wrong.

In Gurman's idea for the Apple Fire TV Stick equivalent, he suggests no physical remote, with an iPhone being used as a remote instead and he said for those after more storage or power, the current Apple TV 4K could still be an option.

He also toys with the idea of an even more powerful device at the top of the Apple TV line up, like the latest Mac mini resulting in "the same 'good, better, best' strategy employed by the iPhone, Mac, iPad, AirPods, Apple Watch and even the Apple Pencil".

The writer even goes as far as to name the Apple TV lineup he believes Apple should offer as Apple TV SE, Apple TV and Apple TV Max.

Of course, whether Apple will ever do a cheaper stick remains to be seen for now. It's a decent argument though, and as we said, this is something we have been hoping will appear for years.

For now, we will keep adding it to our list for Santa.