Amazing Feature

Amazing Feature

It's Cute & All... (external link)

This is a very cute video. I like it.

(I also feel like there's a lot of subtle lore if you want to dig deeper into it. Is Vincent the blond kid's biological father? If so, why does he call him by his first name and demand not-so-French toast? It's enough to make one want to get out their cork board and string.)

I also think that this video is a pretty poor way to introduce a brand-new product to the world. This is the kind of product launch that a live (or heck, even pre-recorded) keynote would have been perfect for. Home doesn't normally get much, if any, attention at most Apple Events, because there is so much else going on. But with all three new Apple products (and the new Home collection of accessories) relating perfectly to Home, it seems like a missed opportunity to talk about how all these products fit together into a single, cohesive vision for the future of technology in your home.

Like I said... the video is great. Love it. 10/10... but it needed to be a part of a bigger story. A story that I don't fully understand why Apple didn't want to take the opportunity to tell.

A Tale Of Two Prices (external link)

Apple Newsroom:

Customers can pre-order Apple HomeView in silver, starlight, rose pink, and space gray for $299.

Apple TV 4K (4th generation) is available for $299.

You can tell a lot about a company and its priorities by looking at how it prices its products. Due to RAM-aggedon, Apple has had to implement price hikes pretty much across the board. Apple raised prices on pretty much the entire lineup in June, and even the recently released iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max cost $100 more than their predecessors. This trend continues with the 4th-generation Apple TV 4K, which is now available in a single 128GB configuration for $299. This is only a $50 price increase from the previous 128GB model, but because of the elimination of the 64GB model, it is now $100 more expensive to get into an Apple TV than it was yesterday, and almost $170 more expensive than it was just a few months ago.

Compare that to the new Apple HomeView, which is launching at the same time, and at the exact same price. While Apple is late to the smart home hub game, it clearly wanted to make sure that it was priced aggressively to help drive market share for not only the HomeView itself, but also Home (née HomeKit).

Steve Jobs famously called Apple TV a “hobby.” Despite years of development in hardware, software, and heck, even launching its own streaming service, Apple TV has never been able to break out of that public perception. It's a really nice product and makes the experience of watching TV better... but $300 better?

Apple clearly views HomeView as a key strategic product, and by pricing it aggressively, is hoping to get one into many, many iPhone-owning and -loving households. It would not shock me if Apple sold more HomeViews in the next year than it has sold Apple TVs in the past five... and a lot of that comes down to priorities and pricing.

Put it this way: If you only had $300 to spend on a new Apple product for your home, would you buy a new Apple TV or a HomeView?