Apple fans may be excited about the idea of an Apple robot following every step you take in your home. However, it seems like a pie in the sky and there’s another idea that is a lot more realistic.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is looking into ways to expand its presence in the smart home market, and one way it could do it is to make a new Apple TV with a built-in FaceTime camera. The device would also introduce new gesture controls the user can perform.
While you might be muttering to yourself, “finally!” hold on–Gurman doesn’t say it’s in development or prototypes are in the works. Gurman reports that this, along with an idea of “automating household functions,” has merely been “discussed” within the confines of Apple Park. Gurman doesn’t offer any other specifics.
Let me reiterate: an Apple TV with FaceTime camera has merely been “discussed” at Apple. My response: why hasn’t it been made already? Rumors of such a device have been around for years, reaching its peak around the time 4K televisions were hot sellers–the idea was that Apple could make an actual TV with tvOS, a digital video recorder, and a built-in camera. Analyst Gene Munster thought it was a sure thing. But then TV sales cooled and the rumors of an Apple TV set died, too.
Perhaps we’re getting ahead of ourselves, but as I pointed out, this idea is an old one, so we’ve had plenty of time to imagine how Apple would execute it. Apple could make the long-rumored Apple TV set, perhaps make it an 8K set to emphasize a premium aspect the company likes to do. And 8K TVs are now available but they’re not as popular as 4K TVs, and the 4K TV market is saturated. Or Apple could redesign the Apple TV so it sits atop your current TV, like the Microsoft Kinect–which was discontinued years ago.
The most likely scenario is that Apple decides not to do anything. After all, the Apple TV 4K can connect to an iPhone for FaceTime calls and last month, Belkin released an iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Apple TV 4K so you can mount the phone on your TV. While I thought back then that an Apple TV set was a good idea, the TV market is a very competitive one, and the window for such a device is likely closed. That’s a shame because Apple’s least-loved platform could do so much more.
Apple TV 4K (3rd-generation, 2022) (64GB, model A2737)
iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Apple TV 4K
Author: Roman Loyola, Senior Editor, Macworld
Roman is a Macworld Senior Editor with over 30 years of experience covering the tech industry, focusing on the Mac and other products in the Apple ecosystem. He is also the host of the Macworld Podcast. His career started at MacUser, where he received Apple certification as a repair technician (when Apple did that kind of thing). He's also worked for MacAddict, MacLife, and TechTV.