
Just in case you hadn't noticed, Apple is a pretty massive company right now. The firm's revenue for 2020 was a staggering $274.5 billion, and it is believed that there are currently 1.65 billion Apple products in active use across the world.
It's surprising, then, that beyond the ill-fated Apple Pippin console – a collaboration with Japanese company Bandai from the early '90s which crashed and burned spectacularly – the Cupertino-based firm hasn't made any serious inroads into the world of video game hardware. Sure, it has interest on the software side of things – Apple Arcade being the latest attempt to tempt gamers over to its products – but Apple seems curiously reluctant to fully enter the video game hardware arena.
However, if a new rumour coming out of Korea is to be believe, that's about to change. Korean forum Clien is the source of this one, with a post stating that Apple is working on a 'hybrid console' like the Switch which will be powered by a new 'system-on-a-chip' that is not part of Apple's A or M-Series. The chip will apparently showcase "enhanced GPU performance and ray tracing support" and Ubisoft is one of the firms being consulted on its development.
The problem here is that the post doesn't cite any source for this information. However, that didn't stop the rumour from circulating and gaining credence:
However, sites like TechRadar – who are far more knowledgeable on this kind of thing than us – have poured cold water on this particular rumour. As we've already established, Apple has historically not been all that interested in gaming hardware and instead prefers to use gaming software to entice customers to purchase other Apple products – such as the iPhone, iPad or Mac.
While the notion of a company as huge as Apple entering the gaming market might be exciting and call to mind the hardware wars of the '90s, there's little reason to believe that the firm would take the massive financial risk involved. If a company like Sony can't beat Nintendo in the portable sector and a firm like Microsoft doesn't even bother trying, why would Apple even attempt such a venture?

Sure, it's possible that Apple is working on a new SoC which offers a huge gaming boost, but that doesn't mean it's actually going to go into production; the firm's M1X or M2 chipsets (intended for a future MacBook Pro model) could end up supplying a similar jump when it comes to gaming visuals, so any new SoC might not be required anyway.
We're happy to file this one under "highly unlikely", but stranger things have happened in the games industry. Let us know what you think of this rumour by posting a comment below.
[source wccftech.com]
Comments 137
If it's a dedicated gaming console and not a phone, it could actually... be good?
Apple console, only $2000.
If this is real, then I think we're gonna see Stadia 2 Electric Boogaloo levels of success.
Apple's price points just don't fit gaming in my opinion and considering their expensive laptops/desktops have limited gaming ability, it just makes no sense.
And to be honest, Apple should just update their Apple TV to include a controller and a more powerful SoC. (Something like the M1 or A14) and they could beat the XBOX Series X and PS5.
A hybrid console should just be a controller dock for the iPhone.
And then price it competitively (like the current Apple TV), bundle it with Apple Arcade, and I can see a nice future.
Angry birds with ray tracing, anyone?
Good. Nintendo needs to be scared again, and if there is a company that will do it, it's Apple.
$1,000 for the console, $250 for each controller, $500 for a dock.
A Switch without Mario, Pokemon, Animal Crossing, etc., and from a company with no experience in the console market?
I'm not too worried.
An unlikely rumour.
And Apple products are expensive. How much would it cost? The most expensive a Nintendo console has been is the WiiU with a game for $ 350. Now you can grab a Switch for $ 300 and a Lite for $ 200. If the long rumoured Switch Pro or New Switch released, I doubt It would cost $ 399, most likely $ 350. Or Nintendo could just wait a few more years and release a Switch 2. I don't think Apple can match the cost benefit of Nintendo handheld.
@WillQuan I agree. Apples strategy is normally to sell cheap made devices with the brand for luxury prices... With that logic, a switch level gaming device could easily cost over 1000$
Some people might buy it for the brand or the niche appeal, but I see a date like the one n-gage suffered ( does anyone even remember that one?)
Implying Nintendo fans give a damn about Apple..
@WillQuan well to be honest most their devices are just as expansive as the flagship laptops of “competitors” like HP, Asus and the likewise microsoft surface line.
Their M1 chip blows the competition away.
Edit: and no it wont win vs a intel xeon or stuff like that
@EliteXeos i do.
ray tracing? like someone pointed out, no chance. I'd like to see what they have in mind tho, hopefully they shake things up a bit
New Apple console called Apple iSocket.
If they wanted to they could do what Microsoft do and keep throwing money at it until they were successful, as long as they learn from Google's recent blunders with stadia.
Like most people here, I cant see Apple releasing any new technology without pricing it higher than it's competitors. They've always been all show on the outside but little wonderment on the inside. It's going to be the Neo Geo all over again. Could they even produce the level of quality that can stand in the shadow of Nintendo?
And why Ubisoft? If they want to go to any company they should try EA. They suit each other.
Low key hoping for this to be a success so Nintendo will have some more healthy competition. But I just don't see this being much of a success.
If this is even true of course.
If you have an apple tv (with controller) and an iphone you sort of have this, don't you.. it would mean a slightly different form factor.. apple arcade is a nice service btw..
@JohnnyC yeah, in this case you can see once again that money does not make a console good. Apple has money to design the most thinnest yet powerful console but people wont buy it if does not has the standard games like FIFA, COD & GTA on it. It will even sell less without good exclusives like Mario or Horizon Zero Dawn.
Games make a console good or bad. The rest is just a nice bonus. I’d still like to see Apple’s attempt tho, I would welcome a 4th console maker.
BS rumor they got too much invested in the M chip not to use it if they actually made a product like this. There’s very little for them to gain by attempting something risky like this when their competition has such a massive foothold already unlike what they’ve done previously with smartphones, tablets and smart watches, it would make their also-ran video streaming service look bold in comparison.
While I wouldn't necessarily be against picking up a non-Nintendo handheld gaming system if the right one came along, I've never owned an Apple device and I'm not planning on changing that any time soon.
@WillQuan Well they only have ‘limited gaming’ because they choose not to have a dedicated graphics chipset, but that has no bearing on a dedicated gaming system. Not to mention their proprietary mobile chips are the fastest in the market.
Either way, I’m all up for competition. It’s a large reason why we have most of the tech advances we have today - competition motivating innovation.
If Apple makes a great system, others like Nintendo will have to compete at least in part, which is great for the consumer.
Total BS.
Apple already have a hybrid environment (not a single device). You can play mobile on an iPad (or even iPhone) and play on big screen with Apple TV. They’ve just upgraded the Apple TV with an A12 SOC which is their baseline to devs for high performance games on Apple Arcade. They’re already Nintendo’s most significant competition (Sony and Microsoft are really in a different market now). The only gap they have in their game capable hardware is their nearly obsolete iPod Touch
@BrintaPap Agreed. If they could get the likes of AC Valhalla and COD Cold War and other multiformat titles on release date running on a portable console, that would be a serious threat to Nintendo and potentially also to Sony and Microsoft. I can't see any other way of them being a success, as creating an exclusive successful IP from scratch is far easier said than done.
@BrintaPap while it may blow away the competitors in the same type of device when it comes to gaming, a £1000 laptop built for gaming will blow away a Mac in terms of gaming performance. I'm not saying they are bad for what they are, just more that gaming has never been a priority for Apple and their Mac devices.
Really, this just means apple has figured out touch-screen-only games suck. People wanted physical controls all along.
Good news - the more competition Nintendo has, the better. We don't want the Switch 2 to become the next Wii U
@LavaTwilight
Whoa! There's a big difference. Apple's kit is over-priced because hipsters still pay the premium. The Neo was an absolute beast at the time, the SNES and MD simply weren't on the same playing field. Even the Saturn needed memory carts to replicate some of the more detailed Neo games, it was only by the time of the DC and PS2 that the conversions were anything like perfect. I had one for a while when they were around ten years old, and even then, it was a tremendously impressive piece of kit.
Ahem, please carry on all
Yikes if these are the 2 companies involved that's an easy pass. I'm sure it will be successful because people will buy anything especially Apple. What is likely is the device will probably be terrible but maybe it will push nintendo to update the switch finally.
@FTL That may be true but that ignores the other part of my comment in terms of price points. While their mobile chips may be some of the best on the market, the devices they come in typically cost 2/3x the cost of the Switch and even more in comparison to a Switch Lite. While there is a subset of gamers who are willing to spend huge amounts on powerful devices, the mass market in gaming has historically shown that a lower price point often leads to success.
Ahum. Nokia Ngage.
...
...
Ok This is some major BS, ray tracing??? really?? and for those who think nintendo is really going to be scared of this trash, not only are there switche's in high demand, but there getting money (And storing it) out the ass, so I don't think apple (With there high price range) would even be able to get into gaming as easy, plus they need good games, I don't want no Ray tracing Ray-man or Ray tracing, what did @Jacob1092 say? angry birds LOL. And lets say if it turns out its good ok, and nintendo has good reason to be
scared, they still (Riches gaming company in JP btw) be able to get the tech (Or the games) to combat the issue, I mean hell we just heard they cut off mario 3D all stars for fomo, Like LOL B***H please, Nintendo is fine, AAAAAnd ubi is on it?? like its probably (If true) going to be apple making the tec and ubi making the game's,
I mean hey i'm up for ray trace AC. (This is just my thoughts on the matter and nothing I say is fact, and if you think this is cool great, if you disagree thats also fine,)
Edit: and if this can (Don't think that it will) Push nintendo to update its stuff, i'm all for it. don't want nintendo getting to scared, or they might just go back to console gaming LOL JK.
Entering the console market has never faired well for many companies at this time. However, I think Apple may have proven themselves in terms of mobile hardware, so they're not exactly to be underestimated.
Some mobile games have custom settings much like their PC counterparts which ultimately make them better than their Switch counterparts. If it was still possible for Apple devices, I would compare Fortnite.
There is a chance that Apple may make a successful hybrid console more powerful than the Switch. Depending on what results in the Epic Games vs Apple trial, Apple might still gain success, which worries me a bit because the Switch wouldn't be unique anymore.
@danemord Except that Nintendo has some of the highest profit margins in the industry (even higher than Apple which is already pretty high with 42%). Lets not kid ourselves, the Switch is running a CPU from 6 years ago and selling a device which is four years old for the same price as it was on launch. Even Apple doesn't manage that with their price point and reputation. I mean heck in some places the Switch is more expensive than it was on launch due to Covid and the processor shortage. Thats beyond incredible.
But as already mentioned above here, they wouldn't compete in the same segment. Apples uses significant higher quality components (screens, processor, material). It would for sure be triple the price of a Switch. Plus this rumour does get more interesting in combination with the VR headset that they are rumoured to work on.
if true, Apple would offer less than Nintendo but charge twice as much for it because their fanboys are mindless
Gready Gready Apple.
How adventurous of Apple.
After 13 years of having dictated the status quo on input-output for smart phones.
I mean, if there's actually anything to this.
@WillQuan Wasn’t ignoring, just commenting on that part of your comment. Yes, it just depends on how much of Apple’s costs goes in to their software / chipset development and production and how much they could then afford to cut the cost relative to their normal offering.
Anything is possible - take a look at the new apple tv’s relatively low cost and the chipset in that for example.
@Pod by ‘dictated’ - I assume you mean, made products that they wanted to sell that have whichever inputs / outputs that they wanted to put in their products? Dictated is a strange way to describe that
No one demanded people to buy it... they make a product and if people don’t like it they don’t have to buy it... dictatorship is a very different concept.
I can see this being absurdly expensive. One reason the Game Boy was such a success, was because it was much cheaper than the competition.
I can only imagine the price.
@FTL
True, nobody was strictly forced to do anything. ^^
I just know I've been bored with the standard iPhone-derived i/o configuration for well over five years by now, and very few have been brave enough to try much of anything new when Apple doesn't.
@MoonKnight7
Perhaps it'll double as an iPhone, meaning that many will "find the money" to get one when they need a new phone anyway. ^^
People are already playing games one their phones. They might as well make calls on their handheld.
@timleon
Why would you be worried anyway? If it was true and you liked it you could buy it and enjoy it alongside your Switch. You're not locked to one gaming platform. And it might light a fire under Nintendo to start releasing actual new games instead of ports of years old games. Everyone would benefit.
My guess is that it’s a controller attachment for a new iPad mini. Personally I don’t think it makes sense for Apple to create a new gaming-centred OS and decide when there are already so many active devices out there, capable of playing games.
This has the potential to be a game changer if done right. Apple essentially can make the PS portable that Sony never made. Imagine, iPhone/iPad mini sized device with capability to run most current gen games if not all. Oh and one more thing, it can be priced at 100$ more than your PS5 or Xbox X….that’s because macOS /iosOS comes with it and you can do all your computer stuff on it too.
So let's see...
> Will probably cost $1000
> Will have similarly expensive proprietary accessories
> Will have terrible battery life for any game that uses ray tracing
> Won't have any first party support whatsoever
> Will contain 128 GB of non-expandable storage
> Will be digital-only
> Will also receive a mountain of iOS shovelware that will make Steam/eShop seem like heaven
Definitely looking good 😉
@FTL I do agree anything is possible, I just don't see Apple being a brand that will massively resonate within gaming and even their own brand identity but as your other comment says, more competition is always good.
@sanderev ya but it's $2000 is just the screen, then $1000 for the controllers and another $1000 for the consoles body. So we're looking at $4000 all in which sounds about right for crApple lol.
I’d love to see Apple and Nintendo collaborate so that Nintendo could use A series chips in the Switch rather than Apple make their own console. It will never happen, but it would give the Switch an incredible boost in power.
@OldMcGroin Competition can benefit the consumer by expanding choice and forcing companies to be...well, competitive.
But it can also have downsides, especially in a market rife with exclusive content. Publishers/developers may only have limited capacity to bring their content to different platforms - and if they decide to bring something to Apple's new handheld instead of my preferred platform in the Switch, that's a problem for me. In the seventh generation, we saw the majority of Nintendo's third party support migrate to a new competitor in Playstation. Even worse, a competitor may buy up studios to ensure exclusivity of content (as seems to be Microsoft's approach this generation).
That said, I'm not worried about this with regards to Apple. The Switch is a well-established console under the all-time handheld market leader, so I don't see many publishers opting to release on an Apple console over the Switch on their own accord. Apple buying studios is a possibility (especially since they have so much money)...but considering they have no experience in the industry, this seems like a costly and risky move for them. We've already seen how Google's done trying to get exclusive content...
Well..good luck ;D
Ubisoft wow they must be desperate!
Imagine an update to reduce game performance after one year. Kinda the reverse of games that start off as unplayable and get gradually better with updates.
No thanks, all apple do is make overpriced products that are no where near as good as the competition but are priced higher. Take their phones for example, absolute rip off, mid range android phones have been proven to have better specs and cameras for half the price.
I got to "Apple" then stopped reading
Yes more competition in the gaming space would be nice, I will be getting this just like I will with other consoles that takes ages to come out like the Atari VCS, Intellivision Amico, Coleco Chameleon, Sega Spartan, the KFConsole, the Smach Z, the Play Date, the Ouya, the PSP 5G, the Mad Box, etc. My pre-order of the GPD Win 3 should arrive this summer.
@iMarkU If Nintendo has the highest profit margins how do you explain the videogames profits of Apple, Sony or Microsoft are 5 times higher than Nintendo profits?
I have a tough time believing this rumour. It kind've goes contrary to the philosophy of the iPhone, Apple TV and all their other products. Just seems like it would be bloating their product line.
I do believe they might work on gaming focused products like an Apple TV dedicated to running games. Or even a gaming phone, since they're growing in popularity.
Nintendo fans are so oppsed to this but if Apple actually manages to hit this out of the park, Nintendo would actually start trying to improve the Nintendo Switch in many ways
"With Ubisoft being consulted"
Why am I not surprised.
super hardware just to replay Life is Strange 100 times and make fan art? That's pretty much Apple's gamers
Also there are already great gaming phones like Black Shark 4, ROC, etc so they are way late anyway
Honestly, it would be shocking if Apple wasn't looking at this constantly. A tech company that big will have R+D going on in all sorts of directions.
There are several issues with this alleged rumor:
1) Apple would not develop a separate SOC when the M series or Bionic chips have been proven already.
2) Consulting Ubisoft seems shaky at best especially being released as public knowledge. Apple would keep this info private because it goes against their walled garden philosophy.
3) The P/L structure on gaming is horrible for a company that loves extremes profits and they are already are trying Arcade with no success,
4) The strongest and most likely project rumor is the self driving vehicle or some type of software/hardware platform for one. This project has concrete details out there and the team is still inside working on it.
IF this is even a thing, they do say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
How many times do we have to teach you this lesson, old man?
but can Apple suceed agaist Nintendo/Sony and Microsoft without having franchises such as Mario/God of War or Halo? this Apple hybrid console would cost a fortune, but if this Apple hybrid console suceed, it would be good for Nintendo to stay out of it confort zone and bring the games/features we want on Switch or it sucessor.
It's all about the games in the end. You can have the best specs in your device but with no (good) games or continuous developer then it would just suck. If this is true and they do actually support it software wise then it would be pretty exciting and cool.
It would cost waaaay too much to compete with Switch.
This story must be true! If not, what else could I possibly play in my Apple Car?? 😏
I ran this by a friend who's on Apple forums. They said they'd seen the same rumour and just brushed it off
It's entirely possible, Apple goes where the money is, and Switch has shown there's money to be made if the performance vs price is right.
Verizon is working on one as well, but you didnt hear that from me.....
I am not surprised, with Apple copying ideas from everyone the last 10 years, it's just a matter of times they run out of ideas
Probably just an game-dedicated iPad with controller dongles.
@glaemay Because the mobile gaming market is significant larger than Nintendo's? The average spending on Fortnite is 293 million usd PER DAY. That equals to selling 4.883 times a Switch game per day.
Nintendo's net margin is predicted on 27.3% this year (versus 19.8% in 2020). Don't forget that Nintendo already made profit on the Switch hardware from day one.
In comparison:
Apple 24.5% this year, 20.9% last year
Sony 13% this year and 7.05% last year
Microsoft 35.7% this year and 31% last year
Microsoft had an even more incredible 40% last quarter. But thats mostly driven through their cloud computing department.
$1000/2000 that i expect Apple hybrid console is gonna cost.
Ah yes this should do as well as the Apple Arcade, which is not at all...
NL trying to downplay this being true, when just 1.5 years ago, Google tried to enter the market, and Amazon as well, both to disastrous results, admittedly.
Apple doesn't do bespoke hardware that does just one thing. It defies their entire brand concept. Everything they sell is meant to be part of an ecosystem, and each product draws people to each other product. Considering they already have the #1 gaming platform in existence (iOS/App Store) on their kitchen sink hardware, they'd have no reason to even joke about dedicated gaming hardware.
They'll be competing in the cloud/streaming services hard, though, and eat far more of the market than Stadia has, much more quickly, by tying it to their existing ecosystem more directly.
Spoiler: You don't actually use bolts to attach the Razer Kishi to your phone.
Will it have Zelda and Mario? My answer is no so I don't care about it.
This will fail. Apple sucks at gaming and this thing will be way overpriced and play primarily crappy iOS games.
I’m an Apple user - all of my computers and devices are Apple. But I have no interest in a gaming device from them.
If that's all they have Ubisoft, then certainly not interested.
I wouldn't really be interested if they did make a console, because I hate apple. Never getting one of their phones, TVs, toilets, or game consoles.
Great competition will push nintendo to stop being so behind
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhckuhUxcgA
What I can guarantee is this won’t be a 300 dollar machine. If they do bring one to market it will be 400-500 easy. That alone without a major IP it won’t sell. The thing people have to realize is console sell on the back of exclusive ips. If there is a game available on another console why would I go buy this console just for it? Switch became a hit based on Zelda and Odyssey being available. This along with the hybrid functionality. This thing would be dead in the water IMO.
@Chamver nintendo isnt scare of apple at all and apple system wouldnt even make it to the same levels that the switch is alrdy at.
You know it is a bogus rumor when they are talking about ray-tracing support in a portable console. We know Apple has expensive hardware, but I doubt even they would opt for selling a portable console for 800 to 1000 dollars.
If it’s true there will be two main problems: 1) apple doesn’t play well with others and 2) it’ll be at least three times the price of a switch -_-“
@sanderev
As great as the M1 is, it’s GPU cores don’t hold a candle to what’s in the PS5 and Series X.
@andrewclear
Apple’s pricing now is pretty good. Their phones are no more expensive than other flagship androids and considering the performance of the M1 Macs, they are an absolute steal at their base prices.
But the main issue with Apple entering gaming isn’t price. It’s that they know nothing about the gaming industry. And sometimes you can’t just throw money at a problem.
It will cost 600 dollars at the minimum, run iOS, lack a headphone jack and expandable storage and will sell like wildfire to Apple loyalists.
It will be praised as the best thing since sliced bread by loyalists and mainstream media outlets and panned as total trash by die hard Windows and Android users.
And almost no one will judge it fairly.
@damo I think if you dig a little deeper, the only new thing here is that it would be a hybrid. For over a year now, actual reputable leakers have been talking about an Apple dedicated gaming console, and Apple being in talks with big publishers.
Microsoft and Sony haven’t really tried to compete with Nintendo on portable gaming lately. But Apple would be a more suitable rival, with success in portable devices. iPhone and iPad in reality are already competing with Nintendo for mobile gamers for game time.
Previous leaks were hinting at more of an Apple TV device with powerful gpu for gaming. But it wouldnt be a stretch to imagine that may have evolved into a hybrid.
But either way, accurate leakers have indeed revealed that Apple is working on gaming hardware, contrary to some of the insight you have here.
I was playing some Apple Arcade titles this past weekend on my iPad docked with a Gamevice (precursor to the Kishi in this article's photo). So I'm actually curious about this.
It's called the iPad
@SpringDivorce You beat me to it.
I was about to comment something similar.
I highly doubt this is true. Seems like we get a rumor that Apple is making gaming hardware every other year. Also, this isn't the first time we've got this same exact rumor with Apple making a Switch competitor...
I've never been a fan of Apple, my family had a Mac back in the 90s, but that's my only exposure to Apple products. But still, given the chance this could be legit, I would welcome a Switch competitor. Two big concerns right away would be price and game library.
If it's true, it could be interesting, but I have to admit I've always pictured Apple returning to the game market with a streaming service like Stadia or Luna. As things stand nowadays, it seems like the logical move for them.
Unless they see Stadia and Luna as a "too soon junior" kinda move and want to take another jab at home consoles for some reason.
@Maulbert you forgot—no support for external storage. All storage must be purchased at time of console purchase at apples outrageous SSD prices.
32 GB — $1000
256 GB — $1200
512 GB — $1400
1 TB — $1600
2 TB — $2000
Lol who on earth would be "salty" about this.
Apple, Amazon, Google... these companies try stuff like this all the time. As usual, it'll amount to nothing.
I'll wait for its successor the next year.
All these name drops are not good Nintendo, hope you can realize this before it becomes a flop.
I forgot about the Pippin.
@JaxonH probably because they don't actually try, the last company on the level of Google or Amazon, who did really try, i mean really put some investment behind it, is Microsoft and I'd say mainly because of the mixed bag of success Microsoft has had has obviously been a strong reason why the other big tech giants haven't attempted it.
The gaming industry is a bit iffy, development cost for games compared with 20 years ago have nearly tripled, big AAA games use to take 2 years to churn out, now take 5 or 6.
People's wages have gone up too, particularly within the tech industry, which use to be the wild west 20+ years ago.
Overall your average AAA game is meant to cost $150 each, but no game developer in their right minds will charge that kind of price.
I mean Sony are attempting to make $70 the standard rate and people are having a fit over it.
The expectation of gaming fans and the reality of the real world is miles apart.
While this huge gap in expectation and reality exists, don't expect too many tech giants throwing big investments into gaming.
This already exists. It's called an iPad (or even an iPhone or iPod Touch) + Apple TV.
While I have an iPad, the reason why I haven't bought more apps is due to Apple's idiotic decision to limit the storage capacity of their devices, and no, "cloud" storage is no substitute. Never was. Never will be.
And as others have suggested, this will never be priced reasonably enough for it to have broad market appeal.
Eh, if they can get it off the ground then more power to them. Competition is good. The biggest problem — assuming the damn thing is even affordable — will be software support. Will Apple be able to attract a critical mass of developers and publishers to bring their wares to the iSwitch, or whatever it's called? Or will it be home to the same mobile junk people play on their overpriced iPhones and iPads?
@TheRedComet True, but there is a rumored M1X or M2 in development with better GPU performance.
I think it’s viable for Apple to become a competitor. Google and Amazon have already given a shot and failed, I’m not sure how much longer Microsoft will bother before throwing in the towel. There needs to be another serious competitor to Sony and Nintendo, and who else is bigger to take them on?
Remember when Apple showcased a Wizard of Oz game as a flagship title for the new iPhone a while back?
It's a flop as it won't run Fortnite anyway.
@sanderev And ONLY plays Exclusive APPLE arcade store titles...rofl...
I hope this is real if only to see what it would look like... but I also heard something about Microsoft making a device similarly too, so who knows.
The iPhone cannibalized the iPod. Can’t see any reason for Apple to build hardware dedicated to gaming. Build the game platform (Apple Arcade) and distribute it on your hardware (iPhone, iPad, Apple TV).
"If a company like Sony can't beat Nintendo in the portable sector and a firm like Microsoft doesn't even bother trying, why would Apple even attempt such a venture?"
The most obvious answer is Apple Arcade.
@Maulbert
At least they have a free calculator...
Apple can easily build a very successful device. Gaming is a huge market, you don't have to knock out anyone else, you just expand it to your own customers.
Synergy is key here, Apple makes all the parts already. They can take a chip like the M1, and remove all the expensive parts, the NPU, the DSP, the modem. Voila, cheap, power efficient, and they even have plenty of room to expand the GPU performance until they hit the largest possible in a fanless device. It would be lighter and faster than the Switch, and that matters in a portable device.
They make the iPod Touch for $200. That's without the typical gaming subsidy of $100. So they have a $400 budget to work with. iPad Mini shrunk to 7" without a camera, with attached controllers ala Switch Lite, with optional dock accessory, USB-C to HDMI. SD Card slot. PS4 performance (the M1 is already PS4 performance, they could even beat the PS4 easily with a 3nm device). $300 retail price. 4x faster than the Switch and half the weight and fanless, don't underestimate how popular that would be. iOS compatible.
Apple could increase their total revenue by 25 billion and profit by 5 billion quite easily this way. It would give a huge boost to Apple Arcade, and that's where the real money is. Increases in iPhone, iPad and Mac sales. Imagine if those games led to 10 percent more Mac sales, the gaming device pays for itself even if it makes no money.
@kostasfil Would you rather pay $10 for a calculator or $1,000 for a stand?
@Chamver I hate apple more and more everyday. Such crooks
Ha ha ha. No thank you. Interesting, but no.
Makes no sense. If anything, Apple would just use their service across mobile and bow mac with the m1 chip. A handheld would serve no purpose, then again the iPad pro exists.
Hopefully Apple loses this lawsuit.
@TheRedComet having a powerful laptop is great and all, but then you have to use osx.
I thought I needed a powerful phone and bought an iPhone last year. The lack of freedom made me regret it and I sold it. Same thing with macs.
Of course some people are into that.
@sanderev but it would be available!
For a console, content is king. Rather than messing about with hardware, any company (including Apple) better make sure they have an impeccably designed must-play game with a suite of complimentary titles at launch.
@Maulbert
None of the above...
Get ready to have Apple tell you it's on Apple OEM or nothing works. No fireport but a fireport. And they will verify your games for you not the other way around. And only limited to buying Apple scalping games no others need apply. And when a new XApple console comes out your's is worthless in cash/trade value and have to buy a New XApple console with all their TOS agreements to share your data with them 24/7. How's that for Apple Product Agreement that you agreed to.
@SwitchForce apple products generally hold their value pretty well
@Chamver
I agree. There's not a lot of (serious) competition in the hand-held or hybrid market. Putting Nintendo on their tippie-toes might force them to get creative and step out of that little comfort zone they seem to crawl into whenever they get mass success. I'm not an Apple fan, but if they can do it, then more power to them.
Just so you know, Apple charges $1,000 for their Pro computer stand. By itself.
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MWUG2LL/A/pro-stand
If anything, Nintendo is in talks with Apple on designing a chip for the Switch Pro. The power efficiency and thermals of the M-series chips would really benefit the next-gen portable console. I doubt we'll see Ray tracing on the Switch Pro, but we probably will see 4K HDR.
@WillQuan oh i understood you wrong there. You are totally right tho.
After Steve Jobs passed away, Apple became a dishonest company. They faced lawsuits for bricking people's older computers. It happened to me too: I updated the system and my 5-year-old computer got bricked. I'll never buy an Apple product again, and I advise everyone to stay away from those thieves. Their console will just be a device to steal money from little kids.
Apple is overpriced garbage. I'll never buy an apple product.
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