The 'one more thing' I really want from the Apple event

The 'i more than thing' I really desire from the Apple upshot

Concept art for an Apple TV stick plugged into a TV HDMI port, next to the new Apple Siri remote

(Image credit: Tom's Guide/Shutterstock)

The Apple tree upshot on Monday is expected to focus on the Mac. And while I am very excited for the MacBook Pro 2021, I'm also a greedy person. Which is why I want more than just a new MacBook with all the ports we and it deserve.

I want Apple tree to milk shake up its streaming device business organization with the i thing it really needs. Yeah, even after nosotros got new Siri remote, Apple's piece of work on the Apple tree Boob tube isn't truly over. No, I'one thousand non asking for a real Apple Television television set. I'grand asking for an Apple Television 4K Stick.

The all-time streaming devices, ranked
Cheque out our Apple tree TV 4K (2021) review

Why Apple tree needs an Apple Boob tube Stick

As much every bit I love the Apple TV 4K, its price doesn't brand sense in this market place. Right now, the toll of entry to the excellent world of tvOS is a whopping $179. And that's simply for the 32GB model, as the price bumps upwards to $199 for the 64GB Apple TV 4K. And that'due south way also much money when compared to the residuum of the market.

Just look at our rankings for the best streaming devices. At the peak, you have the brand new Roku Streaming Stick 4K. Right below that? The Chromecast with Google TV, only released in 2020. Both are just $50, and they stream 4K HDR content just like the Apple tree TV 4K does.

The Apple TV 4K's home screen — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

And even Amazon has a streaming stick on our best list, the $55 Amazon Fire Boob tube Stick 4K Max (where the 'Max' stands for 'slightly speedier'). Look at those prices, so wait dorsum at the Apple Boob tube 4K. Now try and tell me it makes any sense for Apple to sell a 4K streaming device when the market place has three ultra HD streaming devices that are all less than a tertiary of the price of the Apple Tv set 4K.

With those prices as they are, Apple has a very tough time getting the first-class tvOS in people's hands. And while I could care less about Apple'due south marketshare, I similar the Apple Goggle box feel so much that I think it deserves a wider audience. Because it won't get i at this price, where you could buy three of its competitors and still have change left over for at least calendar month of Hulu.

This is why I'g thinking Apple should reveal the Apple tree Television set SE.

How the Apple TV 4K SE would piece of work

The Apple tree Boob tube 4K SE would exist merely similar one of those same streaming sticks, simply its HDMI dongle that plugs into your TV would accept an Apple logo instead. It would offer 4K HDR streaming, and it would aggrandize the reach of tvOS.

Why the Apple TV 4K SE? Well, I'yard guessing Apple might call back that the phrase 'streaming stick' has a low-budget connotation, since Amazon has dropped its cost on the Fire Television Stick 4K to as low as $33.99 over its lifetime, and Prime members can get the 1080p Burn down Tv Stick Light as low as $17.99.

The iPhone SE sets a template for an Apple TV 4K SE — (Image credit: Tom'due south Guide)

The Apple Television 4K SE would probable be more affordable because of its lower speeds. I don't know if a streaming stick could be a suitable chassis for the A10X Fusion chip seen in the original Apple Boob tube 4K, but cutting down the speed of a device, and its size, makes sense given Apple's history.

Just look at the $399 iPhone SE (2020). In the same twelvemonth Apple launched the $799 iPhone 12, information technology released that smaller and more affordable iPhone. It was however fast, did all the basic things you expect from an iPhone, but information technology was one-half the price and more accessible to those unwilling to throw down the normal iPhone toll.

And if Apple could cutting that cost in half, why non exercise the same for the Apple tree Television receiver 4K SE? If Apple dropped a streaming stick at $89.50 or and so (lower would exist better, just I don't expect them to match the $50 price of their competitors), I recall it would fare much better with the public.

Why the Apple Tv Stick (probably) isn't happening

With Apple'south cash on paw and engineering team, it could probably brand anything information technology put its minds to. Only I don't think my dream will come truthful.

First of all, Apple hasn't washed much hardware in the stick-of-glue dongle format, nothing since the first iPod Shuffle. The new Siri remote is close, simply information technology'southward yet larger than a Burn down Tv set Stick. So nosotros can't say for sure that it would be as like shooting fish in a barrel every bit jamming some Apple tree Silicon in a rectangular beat.

Adjacent upwardly, and this is the biggest reason they won't: they probably would accept done it by at present if they wanted to. Apple's always hitched its carriage to the 'premium' feel, and tried to reduce the corner-cutting at all costs. The company has probably considered a 'stick' format, and maybe didn't similar the performance dip that comes with the smaller design that yous can't fit a heatsink into.

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max dongle and Alexa Voice Remote — (Image credit: Henry T. Casey)

And so there'southward the whole world of advertisements. When you consider the inexpensive price of the Roku and Burn down TV sticks, y'all need to always realize that the companies likely make money off of the sales of ads on their device abode screens and screen savers, as well every bit those third-party app buttons on the remotes. But the tvOS experience is so corking, in part, because it is practically advertizing-gratis (Apple has splashy images at the meridian of its habitation screen, simply those are app specific when you toggle over an app). And I doubt Apple wants to change its experience. Apple loves to say that its ad-driven competitors turn the client into a product sold to advertisers. And without that extra ad acquirement, maybe Apple tin't hit that lower price or the margins it needs.

Lastly, equally my colleague Kelly Woo pointed out: Apple tree doesn't make products that are subconscious, the way that a streaming stick hides in the back of your TV. It makes tech with bold looks that are ever visible in the dwelling house. Maybe the lower-cost Apple TV could be more like the $39 Roku Express 4K Plus, a wedge that sits on a surface.

So while I don't think an Apple Idiot box stick is in the cards, I'd beloved for Apple tree to bear witness me wrong. Tim Cook could even pull a Steve Jobs and pull it out of his ain pocket, like his predecessor did with the iPod Nano.

Henry is a senior editor at Tom's Guide roofing streaming media, laptops and all things Apple tree, reviewing devices and services for the past vi-plus years. Prior to joining Tom'due south Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He'due south also covered the wild world of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other manufacture veterans.