At Apple's "Surprise and Shine" event, we're expected to see the new iPhone 18 lineup — including a foldable iPhone — new AirPods, a new Apple Watch, and potentially, the long-awaited Apple HomePad, a new smart home device that combines a smart speaker and display in one.
Rumors of this device have been circulating for years, but it could finally be unveiled in a short time. Here's everything we know about the HomePad in advance,
What's this thing going to be called?
One thing's for sure: No one quite knows what Apple is going to call this new device. It could be the HomePad, a portmanteau of HomePod and iPad, it could be called the HomeHub, or — and this would be the most boring option — HomePod Display.
Rumored release date and price
Apple's HomePad has been rumored to launch for several years now — Bloomberg's Marc Gurman originally reported that we were going to see a wall-mounted device back in 2025 — but issues with Siri pushed things back.
However, now that Apple Intelligence has finally rolled out — and there's a new and improved Siri AI — Apple's new smart home device could actually come to pass this year.
Some reports have thrown around a price of $350 for the HomePad, which seems low, given that the HomePod 2 itself is $349; it used to cost $299, but component prices have driven it up by $50 since it launched.
If I had to guess, I would expect a tablet-like device to cost somewhere around $499.
Design
Apple's new smart home device will have a screen attached to some sort of speaker base.
My best guess is that it'll look something like the Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd gen), which not only had an articulating screen, but could also turn to follow you around the room. However, with the advent of digital face tracking — something we've seen for years with Apple's Center Stage feature on its iPads and Macbooks — it's unlikely that the company would needlessly complicate things with something that moves mechanically.
Still, separate rumors from two years ago point to a tabletop robot that can do just that. Whether that's still on Apple's roadmap remains to be seen, as both Amazon's Echo Show 10 and the Facebook (Meta) Portal, which had a similar feature, have both been discontinued.
Apple could also be working on two variants of the HomePad: a tabletop version and a wall-mounted model, similar to the Amazon Echo Show 15 and 21. According to MacRumors, the tabletop version could have a squarish 7-inch display, along with a front-facing camera.
Interface
While the HomePad may have a tablet as its face, it might function more like an Apple Watch than an iPad. That's at least according to one rumor reported by Engadget, which found code references in OS Tahoe with Watch-like "faces," which will act like the wearable, rather than apps on the tablet.
Users will be able to pick apps from a Face Gallery, and the widgets could change throughout the day, to reflect different conditions both in and around your house. Additionally, the device will be able to recognize who's looking at it, and then tailor the display to that person's preferences.
Outlook
The Apple HomePad has been a long time coming, but is it too late? Amazon has its array of smart displays, but abandoned the form factor that Apple looks to be adopting.
Google, too, has also given up on a smart home display. The Google Pixel Tablet was meant to be not just an Android slate, but also a de facto smart home hub when connected to its dock. However, a year after it launched, Google no longer bundled the dock with the tablet, and a year after that, it discontinued the tablet entirely.
So, if Apple does launch a new smart home display, I will be very curious to see how it can differentiate itself from what's come before — and make a compelling argument for why it belongs in my house.
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