Apple’s long-awaited push into the smart home could finally become a reality next month, with three new products reportedly planned for October 13.
The biggest announcement is expected be the long rumoured dedicated smart home display. Alongside it, Apple is reportedly preparing a new HomePod mini and an updated Apple TV, creating a much broader lineup of hardware designed around Apple Home and the company’s new generation of Siri.
Apple could finally get its smart home screen
According to Mark Gurman, device currently known internally as J490 uses a square display measuring around six inches and combines it with speakers, microphones and a camera. Rather than being a portable tablet, it is designed to remain permanently installed somewhere around the home.
Apple has reportedly created both countertop and wall-mounted versions.
The countertop model places the display above a circular speaker base, connected using a metal arm that allows the screen angle to be manually adjusted. Interestingly, the overall design is said to have similarities to Apple’s classic iMac G4.
A second version, known as J491, takes the same basic idea and adapts it for mounting directly onto a wall.
Neither version reportedly includes a battery, so both will need constant power via USB-C.
Facial recognition
Where things become particularly interesting is how Apple reportedly intends the device to work in a shared home. Rather than presenting everyone with exactly the same interface, the display could identify individual household members and automatically change what appears on screen.
Using a combination of voice recognition and its front-facing camera, the device could determine who has approached it before displaying information relevant to that person.
That could include their calendar, messages, contacts, notes and preferred arrangement of apps.
Apple is also reportedly developing a guest mode that prevents personal information from appearing when visitors use the device.
More than an Apple Home controller
Controlling the smart home will naturally be one of its main jobs. Lights, locks, thermostats and other compatible accessories could all be managed directly from the display, giving Apple Home its first purpose-built touchscreen controller from Apple.
But the device is apparently intended to become a more general household screen too. FaceTime calls, music, photo slideshows, messages, calendars, reminders and podcasts are all expected to feature.
Apple is building a new interface around it
Apple reportedly isn’t simply putting iPadOS onto a smaller screen.
Instead, the company has developed an interface that borrows ideas from several of its existing operating systems. Apple Watch-style icons are reportedly combined with iPhone-like widgets and app interfaces inspired by the iPad.
When you’re not actively using it, the display can instead become a clock or cycle through photographs. The whole experience is also expected to be heavily centred around Apple’s new Siri.
That is particularly important because a dedicated screen has the potential to change how Siri works within the home. Instead of every request resulting in a spoken response, information can also be presented visually.
HomePod mini gets its first proper refresh
The HomePod mini could also finally receive new hardware. Apple introduced the original model in 2020, and despite software improvements and new colours arriving since then, the underlying hardware has remained largely unchanged.
The upcoming model reportedly keeps the familiar HomePod mini design while receiving a newer processor capable of handling Apple’s latest Siri features.
New colour choices are expected too, reportedly including green and pink. An updated version of the larger HomePod is also believed to be in development, although it may arrive later.
Apple TV gets faster, looks the same
The third piece of Apple’s reported October smart home lineup is a new Apple TV.
Again, don’t expect a dramatic redesign. The familiar black box is expected to remain, with Apple instead concentrating on upgrading the hardware inside.
A newer processor should provide the performance required for Apple’s latest Siri and AI features while potentially strengthening the Apple TV’s role within Apple Home. Along with a New Siri Remote.
Future of Apple Home
If the reports are accurate, October 13 could be one of the biggest days for Apple Home in years.
The HomePod mini and Apple TV updates may be relatively familiar, but the arrival of the HomePad would give Apple Home something it has been missing for a long time, a dedicated screen built specifically for the home.
Apple’s ambitions reportedly go beyond these three products too. The company is separately developing new smart home hardware, including a privacy-focused security camera and sensor, code-named J450. The standalone device is reportedly designed to detect which room someone is in without recording video.
And with a new Siri, dedicated home software and potentially much more smart home hardware still to come, this could be just the beginning of Apple’s much bigger push into the smart home.
