Apple retail stores will reportedly promote more smart home products this fall, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman says in his latest “Power On” newsletter.
He says Apple is tweaking the Avenues section of its retail stores — the walls at the edge of the store — to promote such products. Gurman thinks it will mainly be the long-awaited home hub.
The home hub could be dubbed the “HomePad.” It’s expected xpected to have a speaker (of course), a 7-inch display, an operating system that currently goes by the codename “Charismatic.” Here’s what a September 2024 report from 9to5Mac said about the smart home hub:
° The device will be powered by an A18 processor.
° It will have a squarish display rather than an iPad-ish rectangular design.
° It will have a built-in camera that works for FaceTime and other video conferencing apps.
° The device will use the camera to identify hand gestures from a distance.
Gurman thinks the next Apple TV set-top box and HomePod mini will sport an Apple-designed Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chip. The chip will support Wi-Fi 6E, though Apple may not be able to match all of Broadcom’s chip capabilities with the first-generation in-house Wi-Fi chip.
He also thinks that the Apple TV set-top box will arrive at a lower price: US$99. And Gurman adds that, unsurprisingly, there will likely be new color options for the HomePod mini.
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