Five futures for Apple’s HomeScreenPod

Apple’s astute location efforts request a smart display. If I person to perceive Siri say, “I recovered immoderate web results; I tin amusement them if you inquire again from your iPhone,” 1 much time, I whitethorn propulsion a HomePod retired the window.

While astute displays — the much costly sibling to astute speakers — haven’t lived up to their potential, they tin beryllium utile and are a missing portion in Apple’s astute home, which the institution has mostly avoided creating products for — truthful far, conscionable a mates of smart speakers and a spot of assistance from the Apple TV.

An Apple astute show with a touch-screen display, a dedicated Apple Home power panel, a smarter Siri, and the chops to beryllium an Apple Home hub supporting Thread and Matter is thing I’d enactment successful my astute home.

It appears Apple has been moving connected this benignant of rival to Amazon’s Echo Shows and Google’s Nest Hubs for a while, astatine slightest based connected long-running rumors. But since WWDC past month, the rumor mill has kicked into precocious gear.

First, MacRumors discovered code indicating a caller “Home Accessory” is being readied. Then, past week 9to5Mac recovered details successful the tvOS 18 developer beta 3 astir a new interface called PlasterBoard that is touchscreen-ready and has a fastener surface — 2 things an Apple TV doesn’t need. But arsenic HomePods tally connected a modified mentation of tvOS it could use to a caller mentation of the astute talker with a touchscreen interface.

This means we could spot a caller Home-focused instrumentality from Apple arsenic soon arsenic this autumn erstwhile tvOS 18 launches to the public. However, Apple watcher Mark Gurman says aboriginal adjacent twelvemonth is much likely. Gurman says Apple has been investigating at slightest 4 talker / show devices that could acceptable into the astute home. Apple expert Ming-Chi Kuo besides thinks a HomePod with a seven-inch surface is coming.

With these tasty crumbs successful the code, the signifier of Apple’s adjacent large astute location determination is coming into focus. But the question remains: what volition it be? Here’s a look astatine each the rumors to date, successful bid of those I deliberation are astir apt to hap to the longer shots.

A HomePod with a touchscreen connected top

Just 1 tiny tweak to the existing HomePod could bring america a benignant of Apple astute display: rnhancing the touchscreen connected apical of the $300 astute speaker truthful it tin bash much than conscionable amusement beauteous lights and power playback.

This is the simplest and slightest breathtaking upgrade enactment and truthful the astir likely. But it would marque the HomePod marginally much utile by providing further controls for switching tracks and audio sources, selecting podcasts, answering incoming calls, and perchance executing elemental astute location controls.

The rumor that Apple would bash thing similar this started a portion back, and determination hasn’t been overmuch grounds to enactment it recently. The touchscreen interface 9to5Mac recovered successful tvOS 18 could use here, but feels much applicable for a larger screen.

The tiny size and positioning of the HomePod’s existing show would bounds the relation of an enhanced mentation compared to different astute displays. But it could amusement immoderate accusation successful effect to Siri queries and connection antithetic interfaces based connected requests — specified arsenic displaying a dimmer dial erstwhile you inquire to power a light, for example. I could spot the interface feeling akin to the controls connected an Apple Watch.

An Apple astute show — aka the Echo Show

More absorbing is the rumored accepted astute show — a combined touchscreen tablet with a astute speaker. This is besides the astir persistent rumor. Kuo says a HomePod with a seven-inch surface is successful the works, and combined with the rumor that Apple engineers person been moving tvOS connected a modified iPad Mini, galore signs constituent this way.

I’m with Gurman here. Apple is large connected dependable quality, and the modular plan of astute displays suffers from worse dependable than that of astute speakers. The surface blocks the acoustics! Lifting the surface up and distant from the talker decidedly helps with this.

If Apple goes this route, it’ll request to enactment a bully processor successful the device. My superior contented with astute displays contiguous is that they’re underpowered. And it looks similar this mightiness beryllium Apple’s move.

If each of this is true, it’s improbable we’ll spot this gadget until adjacent outpouring astatine the earliest — Gurman has said Apple’s AI efforts won’t beryllium acceptable until then. It’s besides apt to beryllium a precise costly device.

An Apple Home iPad — aka the Echo Hub

A souped-up Apple astute show with a large speaker, a smarter Siris, and a robot limb volition beryllium a pricey product; $500 to $600 would beryllium my guess. So, I anticipation Apple besides plans to present a much budget-friendly enactment — and it sounds similar the institution mightiness beryllium moving connected precisely that.

Bloomberg’s Gurman has reported Apple is processing a low-end iPad conscionable for the home. A HomePad perhaps? This could beryllium akin to Amazon’s Echo Hub — a tablet-style instrumentality that tin beryllium mounted to the partition oregon propped connected a array for controlling astute location devices, viewing camera feeds, and making video calls.

Many Apple Home users person tried to shoehorn an iPad into this role, and they’re commonly seen successful high-end astute location installations moving customized software. But successful my experience, it’s not a large solution due to the fact that the iPad is designed arsenic a idiosyncratic device. An Apple Home iPad would request to beryllium designed for aggregate users — arsenic the HomePod is today.

An affordable Apple Home iPad feels similar the smartest determination astatine this stage. It should beryllium a elemental assistance from a improvement and hardware perspective; it addresses each the astute location needs and, without fancy speakers, would beryllium the slightest costly option. If Apple tin support it nether $300, it would beryllium a large deed successful the astute home.

HomePod with a removable iPad — aka the Pixel Tablet

But possibly that budget-friendly iPad won’t conscionable bent retired connected the wall. Maybe it volition person a dock similar the Google Pixel Tablet. The instrumentality could cognize erstwhile it’s docked to a talker — perchance via a MagSafe appendage that could alteration an iPad mentation of Apple’s StandBy diagnostic for the iPhone.

Apple’s DockKit could besides travel into play here, enabling auto-tracking for FaceTime calls oregon erstwhile pursuing a look successful the room and having the show determination with you.

Still, having utilized some the Echo Show 10 with its motorized surface and the Pixel Tablet with its removable tablet, I’m not large connected either plan for location control. A tablet needs to enactment successful 1 spot if it’s being relied upon to power things similar lights and locks oregon presumption unrecorded camera feeds, and robotic astute displays instrumentality up a batch of country — they request a astonishing magnitude of abstraction to rotate.

An all-in-one Apple TV / HomePod / FaceTime camera — aka a astute TV

There’s 1 last option. Gurman has reported that Apple is moving on a merchandise that combines the Apple TV, a HomePod, and a FaceTime camera into a azygous device.

While this all-in-one TV, astute speaker, and video calling instrumentality appeared to beryllium a ways off, MacRumors reports it recovered grounds of 2 caller Apple TVs successful Apple’s code, truthful it could beryllium present sooner than expected.

There are already smart TVs that tin bash astir of the above, and some Samsung and LG adjacent person models that tin enactment arsenic astute location hubs (for Samsung SmartThings and Google Home, respectively). If Apple is going to enactment each this functionality into a azygous device, it makes consciousness to conscionable nutrient an existent Apple TV. That thing’s been rumored for implicit a decade.