Let’s Imagine a Steve Jobs Television System — and How Apple Would Redesign the Living Room Andrew George Follow Jan 3 · 7 min read

The decade came and went without Apple creating a television set, which was once thought to be Apple’s next industry-shaking “one more thing”.

Walter Isaacson’s biography on Steve Jobs indicated a plan for an Apple Television.

Many thought it was going to create a paradigm shift similar to the iPhone. As we know, Jobs passed away, and while there were rumours that Apple was exploring a television, the project was discontinued and Apple continued to work on merely developing their “hobby” project, the Apple TV set-top box and TVoS (that we have today), rather than a full-blown television system.

It’s hard not to wonder how our living rooms would be redesigned if the Apple TV system grew to be Jobs’ passion project.

If we look at Apple over the 2010s and through some of the snippets of information we can glean from Apple’s competitors, chiefly what Samsung is doing, we can start to imagine what, perhaps, a Steve Jobs Apple TV system would look like. Actually, it’s entirely reasonable to say that Samsung is moving toward developing similar technology (however, not Apple’esque) as this article outline, however, having two tech giants race to introduce (or, “perfect”) technology is going to benefit the consumer. If Steve Jobs was still around and pursued television tech, surely we’d be in a better place than we are now in terms of living room design.

Photo by Julian O'hayon on Unsplash

But first, let’s get the terminology straight in our little hypothesized alternate Apple universe. Let’s imagine a more advanced direction for the current Apple TV set-top box, and that it would essentially connect your entire home theatre system. So, from here on out in this article, Apple TV will refer to this imagined set-top box, not the current box. And, of course, we’re imagining a world where Steve Jobs is still running the Apple show and where he’s fixated in controlling every home theatre system on the planet. Also, we’ll place the timeline to start in the mid-2010s.

The Primary Focus of An Apple Television — Do Away With Cables

No cables or buttons. Not even a power cord… eventually.

Such an action would force the whole industry to follow suit. It would redesign living rooms, which would echo Steve Jobs’ personality in terms of design. Remember, he famously went furniture-less for some time because he wanted the perfect design for his home.

Apple TV Version 1 — Only one cable. No buttons.

The Apple TV system would consist of a set-top box that sends video signals through AirPlay to an Apple television monitor.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

A consumer would feed all signals into the Apple set-top box, which would also double as your wi-fi router to help with living room clutter. It would feature HDMI ports along with ethernet and coax cable to do so. However, Apple will encourage AirPlay to other box manufacturers, such as cable boxes, and Blu-Ray and DVD players, to connect to the Apple set-top box.

In the ideal scenario, the only cables necessary would be power cables. You would need to plug in both your set-top box and your monitor. This would drive Steve Jobs crazy, but he plans to fix that.

The caveat would be an emergency USB-C input, which would be available to attach to the remote if you need one. An iPhone would do a much better job.

We haven’t even talked about the actual television yet, because, let’s face it — the only innovation of the actual screen (for now) would be to make it look better and weigh less.

A consumer could have multiple monitors in a room all serving different purpose. You’d also have the ability to pluck, say a 21 inch model that’s as heavy as an iPad, and set it on your coffee table or kitchen island.

The actual monitor/television at this point would be an edge to edge screen and have a magnetic stand, much like the stand currently available for the new (2019) pro monitor, and/or a console option which would look like the iMac stand. The wall stand could be put at an angle in an easy fashion. It would boast both its image quality and its lightweight design. Think iPad weight, roughly 1.3 pounds per 13 inches of glass.

Version 2

Introducing AirPower.

This is where the living room truly gets transformed, as unappealing power cables become limited.

This isn’t accomplished with batteries in the TV unit, instead, the Apple TV set-top box is plugged into the wall that transmits power to the television and other Apple devices.

This might seem out of this world, however, Samsung filed a patent for this type of technology at the end of the 2010s, so we can say with certainty that tech geniuses weren’t only dreaming of this during the last decade.

Of course, Apple’s HomePods, or some variation of the speaker, would also run on the same completely wireless technology, receiving power from the nearby set-top box.

And the Apple television monitor would be light enough that you can safely attach it to the wall like a framed picture in the event you don’t fork over the cash for the Apple made non-obtrusive wall-mount.

The idea and advancement of AirPower consumes Steve Jobs. He wants all Apple projects to be cordless. Imagine never having to plug in your MacBook, iMac, or iPhone. Of course, wireless mats are a thing in our current (non-alternate) universe, and induction charging desktops (the physical kind of desktop) are likely around the corner. But imagine charging by proximity, rather than plugging in, and the appeal of the convenience and the design of spaces.

This is the new Paradigm Shift

Paradigm Shift #1: Apple changed the music industry with the iPod. Of course, iTunes had a hand in it, and now Apple Music is a top streaming service.

Paradigm Shift #2: Apple made the smartphone industry what it is today. They took it from Blackberry. Of course, Samsung and Huawei are major players, and iPhones don’t always lead in sales, however, iPhones are what every smartphone maker measures itself to. Today this industry has evolved into a photo-taking, video making, app-store driven world, and it was the iPhone that created this shift.

Paradigm Shift #3: With Apple TV, the living room is transformed. Everyone’s living room. And this is because of AirPower.

Photo by Vincent Rivaud from Pexels

Suddenly we’re able to put television monitors in places we never really considered in a more flexible and fluid manner. We’re not “stuck” in our spaces. And while the nature of this might not seem as groundbreaking to computer tech geeks, it would to interior designers and people who take pride in the way they arrange their home. Think about the impact Ikea has on spaces — the ability to transform your home in an efficient and appealing manner with a DIY approach. Imagine being able to reposition a room depending on the daily need.

Perhaps Version 3 of the Apple TV system would have staggered monitor options, ranging from 21 inches to 75. A consumer could have multiple monitors in a room all serving different purpose. You’d also have the ability to pluck, say a 21-inch model that’s as heavy as an iPad, and set it on your coffee table or kitchen island. This falls in line with Samsungs likely eventually evolution of their Frame technology.

Of course, with AirPlay, these monitors can also easily connect to your Mac computers, iPads, and iPhones, much like they currently do. You could run multiple displays in one room off of these devices, one running photos, another with weather updates and news, and another showing a football game.

There’s a lot of things to consider. Would Apple be able to keep this in reach economically of the average consumer? Would this tech replace the needs for iPads, or variations of other computers?

Perhaps the major paradigm shift, even with Steve Jobs still with us, wouldn’t occur until the 2020s. However, with the knowledge we have in regards to the iconic Jobs, the little snippet of information we can gather from Samsung’s patent filing, and the general understanding we have of Apple’s ecosystem of products, it’s not far-fetched to dream up a shift in computing technology that’s able to transform our living spaces and offices.

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