The Apple console thread

[Techno+]

Good day,

We all have been hearing a lot about the posiibility that apple may release its own game console, so i thought why not make a thread for it?

I will do a bit of speculation on he hardware

CPU

1st possibility- Intel and apple have a good relationship right now, so apple might sk them to design a quad core CPU for their console, or just use an off the shelf CPU.

2nd posiibility- AMD have mentioned several times that apple will eventually use their chips, again, they might design a new one, or use an off the shelf CPU, perhpas quad core.

3rd possibility-IBM and apple were once best friends, apple might want to keep this friendship by asking IBM to design them a CPU.

GPU

65 nm version of ATI R600\nvidia G80, the current G80 and the soon to be released ATI r600 run too hot and use a lot of power to be used in a console.IMO, if apple goes for AMD CPU, they should go for an ATI GPU, the company is now all one, so they can create a GPU and CPU that would work better with each other.

RAM

512 MB XDR or whatever they choose to have.

What do u thin kwe should add to this?

give ur opinions

 

[Rangers]

Good day,

We all have been hearing a lot about the posiibility that apple may release its own game console, so i thought why not make a thread for it?

I will do a bit of speculation on he hardware

CPU

1st possibility- Intel and apple have a good relationship right now, so apple might sk them to design a quad core CPU for their console, or just use an off the shelf CPU.

2nd posiibility- AMD have mentioned several times that apple will eventually use their chips, again, they might design a new one, or use an off the shelf CPU, perhpas quad core.

3rd possibility-IBM and apple were once best friends, apple might want to keep this friendship by asking IBM to design them a CPU.

GPU

65 nm version of ATI R600\nvidia G80, the current G80 and the soon to be released ATI r600 run too hot and use a lot of power to be used in a console.IMO, if apple goes for AMD CPU, they should go for an ATI GPU, the company is now all one, so they can create a GPU and CPU that would work better with each other.

RAM

512 MB XDR or whatever they choose to have.

What do u thin kwe should add to this?

give ur opinions

Well, that would be more powerul than any current console, with all the tremendous ramifications that come with that (aka, a stellar position in the market).

Xbox1 without microsoft's baggage, basically. Apple would rake in the cash on that...

But, I dont believe it. Apple doesn't seem the type that would go for technical superiority..

 

[Capeta]

I don't think this will work because Apple doesn't have the cash to lose money on each console sold. What you envision is essentially a PC with an Apple label. What's the point of selling a PC and trying to pass it off as a console?

 

[rendezvous]

from a hardware perspective, it does sound powerfull, and expensive.
the problem would however be to get companies developing for the console, and without enough appealing titles a console is dead, no matter how powerfull.
How about expanding the iPod from a music- and to some degree video device, to also be a gaming device?

merry xmas

 

[Rangers]

from a hardware perspective, it does sound powerfull, and expensive.
the problem would however be to get companies developing for the console, and without enough appealing titles a console is dead, no matter how powerfull.
How about expanding the iPod from a music- and to some degree video device, to also be a gaming device?

merry xmas

They have tried that, I think it has it's limits..

I dont know that such a console would be all that expensive. You would be talking about a extra 200 MM^2 on the GPU, tops, versus Xenos. Which in dollar terms, is likely not all that much. Everything else should be comparable. Silicon drops the fastest anyway, and 65 nm is right around the corner.

 

[Arun]

The only market Apple would be interested to join is the handheld gaming one. I'd expect the 8GB iPhone to have basic gaming capabilities (more than 99% of smartphones, but less than the PSP), although that's only if my information on the chips inside is correct...

Wrt the next-gen widescreen Video iPod, I wouldn't be surprised if they had PSP-like graphics there, with a plain and standard ARM/OpenGL ES programming model, unlike the PSP. That's in the 2008 timeframe, mind you, and they might still change their plans, or I might even be wrong about this (duh!)

However, the potential is definitely there, and it's just a logical extension of that market's capabilities; just like video was a logical extension of the handheld consoles' capabilities for the PSP, arguably. By the time that'll release, the PSP will be much cheaper, so I doubt many people would buy it exclusively for its gaming capabilities... But we'll see.

Apple is certainly NOT ready to create a for-loss console division, so get that idea out of your head, imo. Of course, that depends on your definition of "console"; I wouldn'tn call a $2000 65nm G80/R600-based Mac a "console", even if it was marketed as such. Not that Apple would be stupid enough to try doing something like that, either...


Uttar
P.S.: Taking Sony's example, they would make a pretty damn big(ger) loss per PS3 if they bought the chips straight from NVIDIA instead of using a royalty scheme. Consider this: NVIDIA would take 40% margins on the chips, and so would TSMC. As such, if you considered their fabs to be as cost-effective as TSMC's (which I doubt with lower economies of scale, but it won't be a HUGE difference either), they'd only be paying 50% of the normal price. There are some more one-time costs and a small royalty to pay to NVIDIA per-chip, but obviously, they have a pretty big advantage there compared to a company like Apple. This can account for a $50+ difference in costs.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

As for the 'sell at a loss' console market, isn't that the total oposite of Apple? In Apple's case, I'd expect them to take standard PC hardware, put it in a nice white box, and sell it for 25% over the real cost of the hardware. They couldn't release a console for less than $600, and I ex[ect that'd be less feature-rich than PS3. The best Apple could hope for is a gameified Mac, with a whole Mac and extra gaming potential, perhaps with a cut-down OS and disc-in-and-play console like gaming abilites. But I can't see that appealing to anyone. There'll be far cheaper alternatives with much better software lineups and developers actually supporting them!

I don't think Apple will be gunning for consoles. They pursue the markets mostly ignored by others. They provide simpleton computers, and download music and video when pretty much no-one else was. They've not gone head-to-head with products and only compete when competitors take them on. They won't try to muscle their way into the console space where they've got no muscle, nor any room to squirm their way in. As Uttar says, they'll add gaming functions to their portables to gain extra revenue from the casual gaming sector.

All IMHO.

 

[StefanS]

Apple has already tried to create a console once. It was called the Apple Pippin and IIRC it was an utter disaster.

 

[MDX]

Good day,

We all have been hearing a lot about the posiibility that apple may release its own game console, so i thought why not make a thread for it?

I will do a bit of speculation on he hardware

CPU

1st possibility- Intel and apple have a good relationship right now, so apple might sk them to design a quad core CPU for their console, or just use an off the shelf CPU.

2nd posiibility- AMD have mentioned several times that apple will eventually use their chips, again, they might design a new one, or use an off the shelf CPU, perhpas quad core.

3rd possibility-IBM and apple were once best friends, apple might want to keep this friendship by asking IBM to design them a CPU.

GPU

65 nm version of ATI R600\nvidia G80, the current G80 and the soon to be released ATI r600 run too hot and use a lot of power to be used in a console.IMO, if apple goes for AMD CPU, they should go for an ATI GPU, the company is now all one, so they can create a GPU and CPU that would work better with each other.

RAM

512 MB XDR or whatever they choose to have.

What do u thin kwe should add to this?

give ur opinions

As the Wii and DS has shown, its not about specs, is about new ways to play the game.
Sony is already talking about a 2,500 dollar PSX. They dont get it either. Apple wont get into the market unless they can offer something new for the gamer. And then, they will have to get games made for that "new" thing. By the way, what has Apple done in the past to ensure their computers had a good range of games?

Nintendo has permantly disrupted the markets. Any new console or portable is going to have to come up with something very special to not look like an old hat.

I think the first step for Apple is their media center for the living room. Maybe, you will eventually be able to download and play games on it, but I suspect they will be mostly arcade like titles and not full blown RPGs, FPSs etc. Unless you of course stream the game from your Mac.

 

[Acert93]

Apple has already tried to create a console once. It was called the Apple Pippin and IIRC it was an utter disaster.

I ranted about Apple entering the home console space the other day on Xboxyde. No, no, and no. Handheld space, maybe, especially on the cell phone level and progressing from there. But Apple doesn't have the software or hardware or history (as MS, Sony, and Nintendo do) to enter the market. The price of admission is huge and the quality of exclusive software as well as robust 3rd party support are vital. Apple has nothing compelling to offer console consumers.

 

[TheChefO]

I ranted about Apple entering the home console space the other day on Xboxyde. No, no, and no. Handheld space, maybe, especially on the cell phone level and progressing from there. But Apple doesn't have the software or hardware or history (as MS, Sony, and Nintendo do) to enter the market. The price of admission is huge and the quality of exclusive software as well as robust 3rd party support are vital. Apple has nothing compelling to offer console consumers.

True apple would have a tough time entering the market starting from scratch unless as you said they tagged gaming onto their ipod offering in the handheld space OR they may choose to buy their way into the market if the right opportunity presents itself

 

[Rancidm]

There's already an apple console, it's called the Wii .

 

[Fox5]

Well, that would be more powerul than any current console, with all the tremendous ramifications that come with that (aka, a stellar position in the market).

Xbox1 without microsoft's baggage, basically. Apple would rake in the cash on that...

But, I dont believe it. Apple doesn't seem the type that would go for technical superiority..

Not to mention that Nintendo's Wii already took Apple's marketting schema and is probably what an apple console would have looked like. (ignore the pippin) It even includes Quicktime video playback and editing features, alongisde photo editing features.
Plus, Apple has never paid much attention to the gaming market. If they were going to, I think they'd do an iPod Game or start their own PowerGames or iGames push trying to develop unique, original content on the Mac.

Not much room for Apple in the console market imo. Nintendo's got trendy, Sony's got PCish, and Microsoft has media center.

 

[cthellis42]

The iPod will eventually go in that direction. (You might say "more in that direction," but I don't count the current stock of games as more than an afterthought right now.) Just how FAR in that direction remains to be seen.

Apple's likely to pull off well-handled/seamless convergence, though. Games that can be played on your computer, that can be played just as easily streamed to your iTV device, and that can be downloaded to your iPod for portable play...

They'll start simple (like they are right now) and not attract much attention, but if it there's enough interest they'll figure out the right way to tap it to attract a lot of sales. They've been pretty good at all that so far.

 

[wco81]

Too many entrenched, deep-pocketed competitors.

I see adding it to iPod but as a secondary or tertiary feature, something to make the iPod more appealing versus other MP3 players or phones/DAP combos.

And looks like they're into the same simple games everyone already has, like Tetris and other puzzle type games which work in 2D, doesn't require extended gaming sessions (like GTA or Halo). Something people could use to kill some time while waiting for a bus or something.

It would take too much investment to try to create some exclusive, killer app. which would make people buy the iPod or some other Apple gaming device in order to play it.

I don't even think they're pretending that they're gung-ho for games on the Mac any more. They probably would say Macs are great for digital media management and integration and if you want to game, get a console ... to complement your Mac.

 

[JasonLD]

igamepod.

 

[cthellis42]

Apple has yet another reason to keep games simple but interesting: not just because they'd want them to play on an iPod, but because they'd want them to play on whatever their iPhone endeavor turns out to be. It limits the scale and speed of what they'd want to roll in as far as games go.

 

[wco81]

This thread should be in the handhelds forum.

And on a portable device, where gaming is a secondary feature at best, it can't use too much of the power budget.

So that limits the technology, probably not even 3D games.

 

[cthellis42]

It's not because that's not what the thread creator was talking about, but it's turned that way because of others' conjecture.

 

[LunchBox]

that will be an expensive system.