Apple will introduce its home hub, new HomePod minis, and a new Apple TV set-top box on Tuesday, October 13, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (a subscription is required to read the article).
Gurman says the home hub — rumored to be dubbed the “HomePad” — will feature a square 6-inch display, with different models that can be placed on a countertop or mounted on a wall. It will reportedly sport a single FaceTime camera on the front, with microphones and speakers in its connected base. Here’s how Gurman describes the design of the “HomePad”:
The hub is about as thick as an iPhone, and its display is surrounded by a quarter-inch, black bezel reminiscent of older iPads. It has rounded corners and no sharp edges. The device lacks a battery, so it has to be plugged in at all times, and there are no volume or power buttons.
The product comes in Apple’s standard gray aluminum finish and includes a USB-C port for power. The screen sits above a metal, round base with multiple rings of perforated speaker holes and connects to it through a polished metal arm. Users can manually tilt the display forward or backward. And the base has a rubberized bottom to help it stay on a table.
The standard version looks reminiscent of the famous iMac G4 from 2002 that has a large display that sits on a half-dome-shaped base.
Apple has also developed a second version, code-named J491, designed to be mounted on a wall. It has a thin, square-shaped base beneath the display that houses the speakers and microphones. The base sits flat on the wall below the screen. This version also must remain connected to power through a USB-C cable.
Apple has purportedly developed a new operating system for the home hub. It may dubbed “homeOS” and will feature a grid of app icons, widgets, and customizable clock faces,
The new HomePod mini and Apple TV set-top box won’t have any designs changes, but will pack faster processors to support Siri AI. The new HomePod mini will also come in five colors: green, pink, blue, white, and black. The current model comes in yellow, orange, blue, white, and midnight.
The new Apple TV set-top box should include an A17 Pro chip or newer, an increased 8GB of RAM, Apple Intelligence and Siri AI support, an Apple-designed N1 chip with Wi-Fi 7 support, and a revised Siri Remote.
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