Apple's first HomePod with a screen rumored to launch later this year
The company could finally bring a smart home hub to market by the end of 2025
🏠 Apple is reportedly releasing its much-anticipated smart home hub by the end of the year, according to a report
📺 The “HomePod with a touch screen” is expected to look like an iPad with a speaker base
📸 The screen will be nearly square and come with a camera above it for FaceTime calls
📲 It’ll run on Apple’s upcoming homeOS operating system
🦾 Apple’s more impressive smart home hub with a robotic arm isn’t expected be released for another couple of years
Apple could finally release its first smart home hub by the end of 2025, according to a report from Bloomberg.
The device, which is expected to look like a HomePod with a square iPad on top of it. has been heavily rumored for the past year as Apple’s newest entry in its smart home device lineup. It was reportedly delayed due to the internal issues releasing the company’s big Siri AI upgrade, but now, it sounds like Apple is pushing through to release the product by the end of this year.
Mark Gurman of Bloomberg says that while the smart home hub could be released by the end of the year “at the earliest,” he notes that the exact release date remains uncertain. However, Apple has reportedly scrapped some of the “bolder” features of the device in order to rush its release, although it’s unclear what those features are. Presumably, they involve Apple Intelligence and Siri, but Gurman doesn’t specify.
The first smart home hub from Apple is expected to ship with a 7-inch square display atop a speaker base similar to the shape of a HomePod. It’ll reportedly run on an A18 chip (the same that’s found in the iPhone 16 series) and homeOS, Apple’s new operating system for smart home devices. You’ll have access to apps like Calendar, Notes, and FaceTime thanks to a built-in camera atop the screen. It’ll reportedly feel like using an iPad, except with more reliance on voice commands.
Previous reports indicate that Apple could ship somewhere around 500,000 to a million units of the smart home hub when it launches. The company’s next-generation smart home hub, rumored to come with a robotic arm for following your presence as you speak to it, isn’t expected to ship for another couple of years after the release of the first hub, according to Bloomberg.
Max Buondonno is an editor at The Shortcut. He’s been reporting on the latest consumer technology since 2015, with his work featured on CNN Underscored, ZDNET, How-To Geek, XDA, TheStreet, and more. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop and Instagram @LegendaryScoop.