For some time now we have heard reports that Apple was working on a cheaper, more affordable, Apple TV Stick. This new Apple TV Stick would have been an effort to better compete with more affordable streaming players like Roku, Fire TV, and Google TV.
This new stick format Apple TV would have been cheaper but also less powerful. The hope was that this cheaper streaming player would help Apple grow as it has been stuck behind other brands like Roku when it comes to sales.
According to Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, Apple killed the cheaper Apple TV Stick because its marketing team thought it wasn’t high quality enough. “Apple marketing killed that idea a few years ago I believe. They felt it was too down market/cheap and wanted to keep the box ‘premium.’ Completely wrong move given the importance of content subscriptions over box hardware. I have to imagine they’re rethinking that,” Gurman said on X.
Apple will hold an event on September 9 that many expect will be the launch of the iPhone 16. Some had hoped that this would also include a new Apple TV that has been reportedly in the works for some time. Sadly, it looks like an Apple TV Stick won’t be part of this event if these reports are correct.