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Will iMac ever come with TV tuner?

Dont Hurt Me

Dont Hurt Me

macrumors 603
Dec 21, 2002
6,055
6
Yahooville S.C.
Steve Jobs hates the TV, but lets hope so I mean really if you want to be a entertainment hub you must have TV solution. Apple doesnt have nothing and the few 3rd party devices are very expensive. $150-$200. Then you look on the Pc side and you can sometimes get a tv solution for as little as $20 and you dont have to have another box because it goes into a pci slot. Come on Apple:rolleyes:
 
S

swingerofbirch

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Oct 24, 2003
3,678
4,578
The Amalgamated States of Central North America
When i finallly get an intel mac i'll be able to replace two computers with one (a la boot camp), it would be so nice to be able to replace my TV as well.

It's actually quite environmentally friendly too.

RIght now I have an eMac (CRT), a PC for work (CRT), and a 20" CRT TV in my room. I would love to replace them all with an iMac. That would draw a lot less power during the day, make less noise, and just would look so much nicer.
 
Super Macho Man

Super Macho Man

macrumors 6502a
Jul 24, 2006
505
0
Hollywood, CA
swingerofbirch said:
When i finallly get an intel mac i'll be able to replace two computers with one (a la boot camp), it would be so nice to be able to replace my TV as well.
Click to expand...
You already can, you just need to buy an external TV tuner from Elgato. These are expensive, but I can't imagine Apple ever selling a TV tuner, built-in or not, that is any less so. :(

On the bright side, you get what you pay for, and Elgato's products are very nice and integrate seamlessly into Mac OS X.
 
benthewraith

benthewraith

macrumors 68040
May 27, 2006
3,140
143
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Super Macho Man said:
You already can, you just need to buy an external TV tuner from Elgato. These are expensive, but I can't imagine Apple ever selling a TV tuner, built-in or not, that is any less so. :(

On the bright side, you get what you pay for, and Elgato's products are very nice and integrate seamlessly into Mac OS X.
Click to expand...

Or you can get a DVR and record what you're watching directly from that. ;)

So much less expensive.
 
Super Macho Man

Super Macho Man

macrumors 6502a
Jul 24, 2006
505
0
Hollywood, CA
swingerofbirch said:
With Apple readying revised Front Row in Leopard, what do you all think about Apple including a TV tuner in the iMac or other Macs for that matter?

If they put in an HDTV tuner would the display be able to show real HDTV?
Click to expand...
Both the 17" and 20" iMac are able to display 720p HDTV at full resolution. 1080i needs to be downscaled. Both of the iMacs have more resolution than a lot of full-size LCD HDTV sets. You can already get HDTV on the iMac with the EyeTV 500 or Miglia TVmini HD. I don't see any advantage of an Apple tuner unless it were built in, but I can't imagine Jobs/Ive wanting to put an ugly coax antenna input on the back of the iMac.
 
benthewraith

benthewraith

macrumors 68040
May 27, 2006
3,140
143
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Super Macho Man said:
Well, that wouldn't help you get rid of your TV though, which was what the original poster wanted to do.
Click to expand...

Well, in that case, you're correct, though he could just use a $20 TV Tuner card if he was running it under Windows. :)
 
T

Timepass

macrumors 65816
Jan 4, 2005
1,051
1
benthewraith said:
Well, in that case, you're correct, though he could just use a $20 TV Tuner card if he was running it under Windows. :)
Click to expand...

no PCI slot on an iMac. That is the real road block here. It is not software it is a hardware issue and considering anything under 2k for just the computer is not upgradible that is out of the question.
 
Super Macho Man

Super Macho Man

macrumors 6502a
Jul 24, 2006
505
0
Hollywood, CA
Timepass said:
no PCI slot on an iMac. That is the real road block here. It is not software it is a hardware issue and considering anything under 2k for just the computer is not upgradible that is out of the question.
Click to expand...
I agree. Would it really kill Apple to stick a PCI slot or two into the iMac and make it a little thicker, or to release a Mac Pro Mini.

Of course a PCI slot wouldn't be enough, we'd still need to have drivers and an application to be able to USE a TV card.
 
M

milo

macrumors 604
Sep 23, 2003
6,891
523
Super Macho Man said:
I agree. Would it really kill Apple to stick a PCI slot or two into the iMac and make it a little thicker, or to release a Mac Pro Mini.

Of course a PCI slot wouldn't be enough, we'd still need to have drivers and an application to be able to USE a TV card.
Click to expand...

Not really necessary...there are external USB solutions already.
 
M

MacsAttack

macrumors 6502a
Jul 2, 2006
825
0
Scotland
swingerofbirch said:
With Apple readying revised Front Row in Leopard, what do you all think about Apple including a TV tuner in the iMac or other Macs for that matter?

If they put in an HDTV tuner would the display be able to show real HDTV?
Click to expand...

Due to regional variations in TV transmissions it would be necesary to have a different tuners for various regions. This would seriously complicate production. Apple builds commodity computers (except for the new Mac Pro). One size fits all regions as far as hardware goes.

For that reason alone they are never going to put a TV tuner in there - much better left to third party manufacturers.

Also - if some of the specuation about movies and iTunes is correct it is not in Apple's interest to provide Mac users with an alternative source of "free" video...
 
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MacsAttack

macrumors 6502a
Jul 2, 2006
825
0
Scotland
Dont Hurt Me said:
Thats a good reason but its still a shame when TV tuners are a dirt cheap now. I almost allways have tv going in the background:)
Click to expand...

It is a good business reason.

I understand why they don't

Does not mean I like it. :)

I've got a DTV receive hanging off a USB port on my Mac Mini. Works great, but it would be nice if it were included within the Mini - even if it is only about the size of a pack of cards.

Of course I had to get a MiniMate external hard drive when my TV recordings filled up the drive on the Mini...
 
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thebrain07

macrumors newbie
Aug 11, 2006
4
0
West Coast
I personally have the eyetv 200 (from el gato) and its works very well, and yes I wish it was internal and not filling up one of my precious FW ports. Yes It was kinda spendy. but do you really think that IF (BIG A$$ed IF) Apple made one either external/internal as an option that it would be anywhere in the ballpark of cheap.

just my 2 cents
 
M

MacsAttack

macrumors 6502a
Jul 2, 2006
825
0
Scotland
thebrain07 said:
I personally have the eyetv 200 (from el gato) and its works very well, and yes I wish it was internal and not filling up one of my precious FW ports. Yes It was kinda spendy. but do you really think that IF (BIG A$$ed IF) Apple made one either external/internal as an option that it would be anywhere in the ballpark of cheap.

just my 2 cents
Click to expand...

A valid point - though given the Apple markup on "exras" that should have been 3 cents...
 
Anonymous Freak

Anonymous Freak

macrumors 603
Dec 12, 2002
5,604
1,389
Cascadia
My guess is yes.

First, I have no insider information. I don't know anyone that works at Apple. So my conclusions are based on 'public' observations only. They're just guesses.

That said... I would guess that the next version of Front Row will support live/DVR TV. At least analog, if not digital (aka HD.) Why? Because of one little line on Apple's Leopard Preview Accessibility page:
Apple said:
But improved QuickTime support will automatically display the CEA-608 closed captioning text standard in analog broadcasts in the U.S.
Click to expand...

Now, why would they need to support closed captioning in analog broadcasts? The Mac doesn't presently support 'analog broadcasts' without first converting them to nice digital files. That leads me to think that the OS (or QuickTime, anyway,) will natively support TV tuners. Apple doesn't tend to add things like that unless they plan on using it themselves. (Inkwell notwithstanding.) So my guess is that all of the 'consumer' Macs will come with integrated TV tuners at a minimum. Support for third-party TV tuners and/or an Apple-branded external tuner might be included, but I wouldn't count on it.
 
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eidrunner247

macrumors 6502
Jul 4, 2006
310
5
I remember many years ago, my dad put in a TV tuner in his Powermac (did they call it 'power'?) or Mac 6500. it was one of the coolest things to have on the computer, run programs and watch tv... ahh... good times... He still has the mac collecting dust somewhere too...
 
M

MacsAttack

macrumors 6502a
Jul 2, 2006
825
0
Scotland
ehurtley said:
First, I have no insider information. I don't know anyone that works at Apple. So my conclusions are based on 'public' observations only. They're just guesses.

That said... I would guess that the next version of Front Row will support live/DVR TV. At least analog, if not digital (aka HD.) Why? Because of one little line on Apple's Leopard Preview Accessibility page:


Now, why would they need to support closed captioning in analog broadcasts? The Mac doesn't presently support 'analog broadcasts' without first converting them to nice digital files. That leads me to think that the OS (or QuickTime, anyway,) will natively support TV tuners. Apple doesn't tend to add things like that unless they plan on using it themselves. (Inkwell notwithstanding.) So my guess is that all of the 'consumer' Macs will come with integrated TV tuners at a minimum. Support for third-party TV tuners and/or an Apple-branded external tuner might be included, but I wouldn't count on it.
Click to expand...



So they plan to add closed caption support (a standard used at the moment in analog broadcasting in the US) to all the Quicktime stuff they sell through iTunes - and to allow others to produce Quicktime content that does the same.

All part of Apple's evil pan to dominate the world of digital media (who needs this TV thing anyway when you have iTunes?) :)
 
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