It’s been about 4 months, June 24th to be exact, since Apple last updated the Apple TV. The iPod & iPhone got their love about a month ago, and the rest of the Mac line up pretty much got theirs this past Tuesday. So why no Apple TV update you ask? I have no idea. Is Apple ready to drop the ax on its hobby media center? I don’t think so, let me tell you why.

Let me state that I have no insider knowledge of why Apple is ignoring the Apple TV or what its future plans are, this is all purely speculation. The first reason why I think the Apple TV isn’t going anywhere quite yet, Apple TV specific content. And what I mean by Apple TV specific content is the Apple TV HD rentals. Every day Apple, or the studios, are adding new HD rental titles to its list. These are titles which can only be viewed on the Apple TV. Whats the point of adding new content for a doomed product? Second, I don’t think the new iMac is an Apple TV in disguise. It’s bad enough that Apple segregates a large portion of the movie renting population by requiring an HD TV to work with the Apple TV, what portion of the population is going to buy a $2000 computer to hang on their wall to watch movies? My point being is that this would kind of screw the segment of the population who already own a perfectly fine HD TV and just want a box to watch and rent movies. Third, would Apple wait this late in the year to kill their only media center solution without a complete replacement? If Apple would have added HDMI out to the updated Mac mini, yeah then maybe, but not yet.

So what do I think Apple’s future plans are for the Apple TV? I think there are two features which scream to be added to the Apple TV to help bring a little legitimacy to this hobby box of theirs. One, Apple needs to bring subscription TV Shows and Movies to the Apple TV. I think we are well beyond the point of Netflix proving that for TV Shows and Movies, a subscription model would be a hit. Lets face it, Blu-ray is a stop gap until the bandwidth is available to handle high quality HD streaming for everyone. Until then, Netflix is becoming a feature on every last Blu-ray player and media center box on the planet, while Apple sits back and does nothing. The second featured I want to see are iPhone style apps. Maybe a true web browser app, a few social media apps, and of course games. All though I don’t think the addition of apps and games would make the current Apple TV a serious threat to the Wii or Xbox 360, apps and games would go a long way to making the Apple TV a player again in the entertainment/media center space. And, if adding a subscription service or apps to the Apple TV requires a whole new box, so be it. The current Apple TV is 3 years old, it’s about time for an update to the hardware.

Those would be my hopes dreams and predictions for the current or future Apple TV, and I don’t think I’m expecting much. Ultimately whats most important for me as a consumer is that Apple offer the largest selection of content, movies or otherwise, in the highest quality possible, delivered to me in the easiest way possible. If it’s through the Apple TV so be it, if not, rest in piece Apple TV we hardly knew your potential.