Of course, Apple will want you to stay within its universe, but preventing you from accessing your Sky or Virgin Media content would be sheer madness. Finally, the television will have AirPlay support, so you'll be able to mirror iOS apps from your device.
Audio
If recent tweaks to Apple's Mac line-up are anything to go by, audio quality is increasingly important to Apple. And we think it will be a key feature in an Apple television.
One possibility is that it could incorporate the downward firing speakers in the current iMac line-uip - check out our iMac review. These are really rather good, and loud enough to fill a decent-sized living room. They rely on the screen being only a few inches above a flat surface, however, in order to reflect the sound.
Given the number of people who wall-mount televisions, that would be a problem. We pondered the idea of a wireless sound bar with a separate sub-woofer and it's an attractive proposition. In the end, however, we decided Apple was more likely to go for an all-singing, alldancing, cinematic surround-sound setup.
Being Apple, of course, it would have to be wireless. That would mean a new version of AirPlay with support for a wireless 5.1 channel audio codec, something which may prove too much of a challenge initially. But even if wireless surround-sound speakers aren't available at launch, we think they'll arrive in a future version.
Our proposed line-up
Apple Home TV 42-inch: £999
The 'budget' end of the range will have the smallest (though still huge) screen and no separate speakers.
Apple Home TV 55-inch: £1599
If 42-inches isn't enough for you, check out this baby. A full 55-inches of 1080p TV, but without separate speakers.
Apple Cinema TV 42-inch: £1299
This will have the same-sized screen as the 'budget' model but include 5.1 channel AirPlay speakers in the package.
Apple Cinema TV 55-inch: £1899
The daddy of the range, this packages has the monster 55-inches screen and those lovely 5.1 channel AirPlay speakers.
