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Zest28

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 11, 2022
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I bought a 128 GB Apple 4K TV for only $150. I was surprised to learn that this thing has the iPhone A15 chip inside and it is more powerful than a Core i9 16“ intel MacBook Pro. So this thing can easily run Mac OS without breaking a sweat and would be sufficient for many people easily.

And then in a few years time, the $150 Apple 4K TV will feature the A17 Pro (iPhone 15 Pro chip) which comes with 8GB RAM. And this thing has a higher single core speed than a M2 Ultra even, making it a computing device that is more than enough for most people.

A $150 Apple 4K TV running Mac OS with the A17 Pro would pretty much dominate the computer market. But ofcourse Apple will never do this, as it will give huge problems for the Mac line-up.
 
Don't their monitors also have a ridiculously over powered chip that just runs basic firmware. If they throw in a bit of RAM, they can easily turn it into an Apple TV so you can use the monitor as a TV. But of course they won't
 
Don't their monitors also have a ridiculously over powered chip that just runs basic firmware. If they throw in a bit of RAM, they can easily turn it into an Apple TV so you can use the monitor as a TV. But of course they won't

Their monitors are $1500+, not $150 like the Apple 4K TV. They are not mainstream devices, unlike the Apple 4K TV.

$150 is nothing for a computer.
 
The price looks low, but it's also competing with other streaming boxes/sticks which are sold for even less, so they have to price it competitively. It probably has the hardware power and could be sold as a light Mac, but Apple is also designing it as a streaming box, which they can continually profit off of long-term. If it wasn't trying to run iOS apps, then it would probably be designed with even lower hardware specs.
 
Er, an Apple TV with A15 can't out multitask an i9 unless it's a very old one, but be that as it may, an Apple TV (The latest) only has 4G of RAM and 128G of Flash. No USB ports. It wouldn't be able to run a modern version of MacOS.
 
They won't do it because it would gut Mac Mini sales. Most of the Mac Mini buyers would be perfectly happy with a $300 computer with an A15 CPU, 8GB RAM and 250GB SSD.
 
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They won't do it because it would gut Mac Mini sales. Most of the Mac Mini buyers would be perfectly happy with a $300 computer with an A15 CPU, 8GB RAM and 250GB SSD.

The stock A17 Pro in the iPhone 15 Pro Max already ships with 8GB RAM.

So in a few years, Apple can ship an Apple 4K TV with 8GB RAM for just $150 even :p

But yes, this will never happen as Mac sales will plummet.
 
It’s called “re-using” components we already have for different purpose devices, that is actually a smart business move …

To take your thought further, why couldn’t an iPhone be used as your main computer? Wirelessly connecting to display, keyboard/mouse should be easy… but it would defeat the purpose then …
 
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