Has Apple "Finally Cracked It"?

Apple Television... now, that's a name I haven't heard in a long time...

Three words. Three little words have sent the Apple rumor mill's heart aflutter the past 24 hours. And it was just an aside in a longer report about Apple's new square screen home device thing. From Mark Gurman's Bloomberg newsletter:

If the product does catch on, it will help set the stage for more home devices. Apple is working on a high-end AI companion with a robotic arm and large display that could serve as a follow-up. The company could also put more resources into developing mobile robots, privacy-focused home cameras and speakers. It may even revisit the idea of making an Apple-branded TV set, something it’s evaluating. But if the first device fails, Apple may have to rethink its smart home ambitions once again.

I highlighted the key words, just in case you skimmed right past them. But the real key are the last three: "something it's evaluating." Everyone is well aware by now that Gurman is the best-sourced Apple reporter on the beat, scooping feature after feature, product after product, year after year. If he says Apple is evaluating something, they're very likely evaluating it. Or at least were at some point...

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