My understanding is that Apple have implemented RCS, which funnily enough, does not even support encryption yet. Google had to roll their own proprietary add-on.
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/09/18/end-to-end-encryption-rcs-messages/
Apple lay out some details here: https://security.apple.com/blog/private-cloud-compute/
They control the cloud hardware. Information used for cloud requests is deleted as soon as the request is done. Everything end-to-end encrypted. Server builds are publicly available to inspect. And all of this is only used unless the on-device processing can’t handle a request.
If somebody wanted to actually create a private AI system, this is probably how they’d do it.
You can disagree with this or claim somehow that they are actually accessing and selling people’s data, but Apple are going out of their way to show (and cryptographically prove) how they’re not. It would also be incredible fraudulent and illegal for them to make these claims and not follow through.
I have a 50 terabyte NAS for storing my movies and TV shows. And access it from any of the TVs in my house.
For music…I have a music streaming subscription for convenience, but also have some vinyl records for the small-ish number of albums I want to keep forever.
No need for other Apple devices. It can act as a standalone box. It may want an AppleID account during setup. I’m unsure about that part.
I posted this elsewhere in the thread, but…AppleTV with the Infuse app.
I tried a bunch of different media boxes and HTPC options over the year. But this is by far the best setup in my experience.
I run an LG OLED TV (disconnected from network), AppleTV, and my own media server. I haven’t seen an ad in my TV for years.
These threads always have comments like “I want a fast device that’s well built and has years of software update support and doesn’t have ads and respects my privacy…but I’m not an Apple customer”.
I mean, fine, removed Apple. But stop buying the cheap alternatives and complaining about them.
This is one area where Apple have actually done a decent job.
Even the article reluctantly admits the AppleTV is the best media box now. Because it’s the only one that doesn’t throw ads on the home screen.
HomeKit also enforces local network control so you don’t need the manufacturer app or third party cloud services.
But the industry as a whole really needs better standards and accountability. And people need to stop buying products from an ad company (Google).
Just buy an LG and use an external media device. LG TVs work perfectly fine with no network connection and you can set them to power on and go straight to the last used HDMI input.
I never see the built-in OS on my LG OLED.