Today, we are closer to Apple releasing a purpose built console than we have been for a very long time. Twenty years after the ill-fated collaboration with Bandai that produced the Pippin, Apple have all the right pieces in play.

Whether or not Apple likes games, they have finally admitted that they are a games company too. They have inadvertently created the biggest mobile gaming platform in the world with iOS, games have their own tab in the App Store, and this autmun/fall there will be an Apple Arcade built into all Apple devices. That screams “console” to me.

Since Microsoft introduced Xbox LIVE Arcade, Sony and Nintendo have added similar offerings. Exclusive games are a must-have in order to successfully launch a games console today. With Apple Arcade, Apple gets a bare minimum of an exclusive window for all their platforms and I would not be surprisd if we start to see must-have games on this service whilst users are guaranteed a source of games to play whilst saving up for the big titles. No loot-boxes will be a big pull for parents and jaded gamers that are fed up of never having a complete game experience without paying through the nose.

Apple TV could have been a games console except developers were required to support the Siri Remote which is singularly difficult to adapt games to. I did it with The Trace but it was a challenge to say the least. What stopped the Apple TV from becoming a console was the “TV”.

If Apple release a new games-focussed Apple TV with beefed up specs, a proper game controller, a games subscription service, and exclusives, at a console price, I would be delighted.