A new report suggests Apple will release 55in and 65in 4K TVs in 2014, with prices between $1500 and $2500.
Rumours of an "Apple iTV" have been around for years now, most recently suggesting Apple would launch an OLED TV, but the latest report suggest the first Apple televisions will be driven by the demand for 4K Ultra HD TV.
Bloomberg reports an analyst from the Advanced Research Japan Co., who suggests 55in and 65in Apple 4K TVs will emerge in Q4 of 2014.
LG and Samsung will be in line to manufacture such sets according to analyst, Masahiko Ishino. LG told whathifi.com back in April that now was the not the time for an Apple TV, but no doubt by the the end of 2014 that opinion could have changed.
Apple has so far taken a relatively soft approach to tackling the living room, with the Apple TV box famously seen as no more than a hobby for Apple.
That said, Steve Jobs reportedly told his biographer he had "finally cracked" the Apple TV that he had in mind.
It was confirmed that Apple was looking at the idea of a TV at the back end of 2012, and Apple has since hired the services of Dr. Lee Jeung-jil, formerly at LG Display and also involved with the P-OLED research at Cambridge Display Technology. No doubt fuelling the Apple OLED TV speculation.
Previous speculation had previously suggested an Apple iTV would come packing Apple’s Siri technology, which would allow users to control the majority of functions using voice commands.
More pie in the sky or will Apple release an all-action, touchscreen OLED 4k Apple TV in 2014? Hmm. We asked a very similar question in 2013. We shall see.
Apple may yet reveal a new Apple TV box alongside the iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2 at tonight's Apple launch event, though any more news of a full-size Apple TV is highly unlikely.
by Joe Cox
