Technology journalists who keep a close eye on Apple know one thing for sure every time they cover the company’s call analysts following its quarterly results. They know that Gene Munster, an analyst, will ask Apple when the company is releasing its television. Munster has done this for years, quarter after quarter. But no Apple television has appeared yet. Now, there’s news again that an Apple TV — an actual big-screen television and not the streaming box Apple already sells — is again in the works. Presumably, we’ll see an Apple television coming out of the company’s labs and factories in a few months or, more likely, a few years. But I believe that a separate Apple TV should be created instead of a television.

A standalone Apple TV, which is much more than a streaming box, is now such low-hanging fruit that it would be almost sacrilege on Apple’s part not to do it. All the ingredients are in place for Apple to create an Apple TV that is not only a streaming box but also a gaming console similar to the Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation.

Look at it from this angle: For a device like the Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 Pro, there are three essential components. One, is the chipset that gives these consoles the ability to run games. Two, the gaming ecosystem and the availability of games that people will want to play. And three, people are willing to buy it. I believe Apple already has two of these components.

M4 is quite powerful

In terms of hardware, Apple is already at the level of the latest Xbox and Playstation. The Xbox Series Its performance is approximately 12 TFLOPS. The PlayStation 5 Pro, which is a slightly upgraded version of the PS5, also has a chip made by AMD and that chip performs at about 16 Tflops. These numbers are in line with what the M4 Pro and M4 Max, the latest Apple chips, can offer through their graphics units. The number of Apple chips ranges from 8 TFLOPS to 17 TFLOPS depending on the variant, but it’s safe to say that if Apple wants a chip that is on par with the chips in the PS5 Pro and Xbox Series Is. By tuning and binning one of the M4s.

In fact, Apple has chips that are quite fast. The Ultra variant of the M3 has a graphics core that already exceeds 20 TFLOPS. And some variants of the M4 Ultra, due out in 2025, are likely to be closer to 30 TFLOPS, which is about double the horsepower that a PlayStation or Xbox can manage.

Apple has demonstrated that they can go in smaller boxes without the need for elaborate cooling by putting these chips in the MacBook Pro and Mac Mini. In other words, barring economics, which I’m not aware of, there’s nothing stopping Apple from putting one of these ultra-fast M series chips in an Apple TV and then turning it into a gaming console.

I believe the third part of the equation – the consumer – also exists. According to some research firms, there will be about 34 million Apple TVs in use in the US in 2024. Even if we’re a little more conservative in the estimate, it’s safe to say that there will easily be around 55-60 million active Apple TVs worldwide, which is not a small number for a device that isn’t as “essential” as an iPhone or Mac. . In fact, Apple rarely promotes Apple TV and so far has been happy to keep it almost like a side project, updating it every two or three years. If this little box, in addition to fulfilling its streaming and entertainment duties, can also help people play AAA games, I’m sure it will find more support among consumers.

need aaa games

However, the trick for Apple is the second component: the availability of AAA games. But I believe this can also be solved by a more robust Apple TV. Solving the AAA games puzzle has become important for Apple in recent years. The company is trying – so did Hideo Kojima at WWDC in Cupertino last year – but the games haven’t come out yet. Nowadays whenever I’m reviewing something with an M series chipset, I find that it doesn’t have AAA games that block it. Something like the MacBook Pro M4 is an incredibly powerful laptop, but for many regular consumers, it’s more of a necessity. Many consumers are staying away from the MacBook Pro due to the low availability of top games. Many people want to work and play. And don’t just work on your Rs 2 lakh laptop. Unless they’re editing video, or programming, or running simulations, they don’t need the power that chips like the M4 Pro or M4 Max provide.

An incredible catalog of AAA games – think the latest Call of Duty – will make Apple computers look even more attractive than they are. And an Apple TV, which has a stronger graphics chip, could attract more game developers to come into the Apple camp and make games for it.

In a way – but not entirely because I think the business case, including Apple’s cut of the purchase, and the overall cost-benefit ratio – the lack of AAA games on Apple platforms may be a chicken and egg problem for game developers. Can. 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 it could always use a graphics chip by AMD or Nvidia to make its platform more gaming-friendly, the math probably never worked out. Came. However, Apple now has the opportunity to do so.

Personally, I would love to have a do-it-all box under the TV in my drawing room. I believe Apple has an opportunity to create such a box. The company could potentially call it Apple TV Pro. The price will, obviously, increase as such a box will also require associated gaming hardware like a larger chip and more storage. But if it competes with the Xbox Series