This is a thread about Apple and Nintendo, lol. Yes I'm well aware of the 90s and but the 90s are what they are -- the past (and distant past in brand/technology terms). 

Apple has arguably been the most successful company on the planet for the last decade, Microsoft has failed to be able to really dent the smart market and the smart device revolution is the no.1 way most people compute today quite frankly. Smart devices have changed the world and MS got largely locked out of that, whereas Apple led a key revolution in human technology. 

If you want to argue against those points, be my guest. 

Also it's well known Apple's marketing is incredible, as a brand they are far "cooler" than Sony or Microsoft and have been for ages now. 

In a scenario where Nintendo and Apple worked together on some kind of home/gaming box, it would certainly be an earth shaking type of event for the industry and make things much, much more difficult for Sony or MS (I think it probably would push MS straight out of the gaming business for starters). 

If you don't think a Apple + Nintendo console would be very formidable in this market, I will just say I disagree with that. They could easily be successful in this market if they really wanted to be, they probably just view it as small potatoes. 

What's 100 million hardware units over 5-6 years when they sell that many iPhones in like 6-9 months? 

Apple builds their hardware, the same way you can't build a Rolex watch or a BMW, that's what some companies do they build their own products and there is a certain quality assigned to that. You can't build your own Playstation either. 

Microsoft hasn't done anything hugely important since the 90s, that's just my opinion, as a business you're kinda stuck with them because changing OS' can cause all sorts of issues with past record keeping and Apple is not really interested in the business/server market anyway. 

In many ways, I feel that Apple and Nintendo have similar philosophies. They both make their products based on the integration of hardware and software and both companies are filled with people who have a passion for making great products. However, the similarities pretty much stop there. While Apple focuses on hardware and software, their computing devices are primarily tools to be used by others. Apple is not a content driven company. Nintendo is a content driven company. On top of that, Apple is terrible with gaming. I'm not even talking about the ill-fated Pippin. I understand that machine came from a very different Apple from a different time. I'm talking about their latest Apple TV. They could have owned the micro console market overnight. They had the marketing, the right product and everything but they made one stupid decision that killed their chances of doing that. They required developers to use the Apple remote for every game. Third party controllers could be used but there had to be an option for the TV remote. This severely limited the types of games that could be released on tvOS and had a huge impact on the quality of the games.

Nintendo on the other hand understood that not all developers would want or need to use the DS's touchscreen or the Wii's motion controls and didn't require them to. So how is it that Apple, with all the talent they have and all the successes they had over the years could overlook this stupid mistake? The answer is simple. Apple is not a gaming company. The executives never worked for a gaming company and they don't understand games. Now, before anyone mentions anything about Steve Jobs not being there, I would think that if he were still around, he would have not only required the tv remote to be used with every game, he probably would have banned third party controller support altogether. After all, the point of Apple TV was to not have to use so many different TV accessories.

The iPhone is pretty damn good product too. That helps. 

People who push the reasoning that the iPhone is some cheap/crap product that succeeds only because of marketing are the ones who are off base IMO. 

iPhones are always in actual benchmarks perform about as well if not better than the top tier Android phones most of the time. The build quality I find is usually quite good too. A lot of people don't want 1039483494 different options with their smart phone, the reason they like smart devices is because they are easy and intuitive and streamlined to use. 

The iPhone is very good for those who want a smart phone... But also wan't it kept simple... And also wan't it to look nice.
The App Store is a little more refined than Androids too.

But I don't like the fact Apple uses low-resolution screens, abandons ports so you have to buy breakout cables/adapters (They might be removing the Headphone jack.) and lock down the OS removing allot of potential customization (Apple also tends to support it's devices for longer.).
And refuses to adopt a standard that the entire industry from Printers, Scanners, Camera, Hard Drives, USB Drives, Consoles, Cars, Planes, Power Plugs use... Like. Oh. I dunno? USB?
How inconvenient going somewhere and not being able to charge your device or transfer data because of the stubborness of a manufacturer.

And they bundle with pretty poor amounts of Ram, which impacts multi-tasking and pretty average cameras.

To me it is, I can't stand android os. Too many issues and the android phones tend to have lag especially after updates wether people want to admit it or not.

Well, which smartphone is the best always depends on personal preference. For me personally, the iPhone is the best smartphone out there. But not because of the hardware, even though that thing is crazy fast. I know there are plenty android smartphones with better specs and even some with better benchmark results. But for me the big reason why the iPhone is superior for me is the software. Everything works flawlessly and nothing feels tacked on. I can't say that about Android. Also, I'm completely inside Apples ecosystem and I'm also using a Mac. A Mac and an iPhone are a powerful combination with a lot of benefits. 

Of course for someone else an android smartphone might be better. But I don't think it's fair to say that there would be some smartphone that would be ultimately better for EVERYONE. That's simply not true. The iPhone has its flaws, as does every device, but for some it's the best option out there.

@OP: I can't see it happening. Nintendo would be way too expensive. If Apple even tried to buy them, stocks would explode like there's no tomorrow. They would need something around 100 billion dollars to buy Nintendo. Apple does have that amount of cash, but I don't think it would be worth it. They would need decades to get all that cash back at the very least.

I never grabbed an iPhone or an iPad and went "this is so low-res".

I don't get the resolution war on such small devices, most people, if not all, can't recognize the difference. Apple was the first smartphone manufacturer to recognize the importance of higher res screens on smartphones, other companies took a long while to catch up to the iPhone 4 display quality. I acknowledge that others offer screens with higher resolutions, but at this point, I don't consider it a big advantage. It's definitely not something I would consider when I upgrade my smartphone, both options are great enough.

iOS has always been locked down, but also always allowed customization options that took too long to be on other devices, if ever. Apple got "notifications" right way before anyone else. "Permissions" to what Apps can access was the reason I switched to iPhone. I got tired of my android apps having access to of all my contacts and info without me being able to stop them. That changed with Android M, which only 10%, or less, of Android users have access to. That's just another privilege I get with an iPhone, guaranteed long-term support. So yeah, I didn't care for all the customization options on Android because on the other hand, my data and privacy wasn't under my control, I didn't get the latest software on capable hardware. I considered these as superior customization options that I couldn't get on Android.

Pretty average cameras? Year after year, the iPhone is the among the Top 3 smartphones with the best cameras, I am pretty sure it was number 1 on many of these years too. Your claim is highly inaccurate here.

RAM. Again, grab an iPhone 5s or 6 and use it for a day. I don't think you will have complaints about the low RAM. It rarely hurts the user-experience on iPhones. Year after year, the iPhone is considered among the top performing smartphones despite the low RAM. 

You have a point with the iPhone not having a USB port. But with everything else, you kinda missed the mark. 

I certainly hope not. I am not fond of Apple, but I have been a Nintendo fan since the NES.

That would be a dream come true, guys! Not really.