Apple is expected to introduce a new smart home hub called HomeView at an event dubbed "Welcome Home" on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. It would be the company's most direct attempt yet to put a screen and a voice assistant at the center of a connected house, something it has tried and mostly failed to do with HomeKit and the original HomePod.
Gurman describes HomeView as a Siri command center built around Apple's A18 chip, the same silicon that has powered recent iPhones. It's tipped to arrive in two forms: a countertop model with a metal speaker base, and a wall-mounted version with a flat, square base that sits beneath the display. The countertop model is expected to come in space gray, silver, starlight and pink, while the wall-mounted version would be limited to space gray and silver, Gurman reports.
Earlier reporting cited by PCMag put the square display at around 7 inches, with built-in facial recognition for identifying who's in the room. A MacRumors report from late September said the interface will borrow elements from watchOS, iPadOS and tvOS, letting people pull up Photos, Notes and Calendar directly on the hub rather than through a phone.
If the specs hold up, HomeView would go on sale in mid-November, per Gurman's reporting. None of this is official yet. Apple has not confirmed a name, a price or a date for any device, and everything here traces back to Gurman and the outlets following his reporting.
A different kind of bet
What's notable is the strategy behind it, not just the hardware. Gurman reports that Apple wants third-party manufacturers to build accessories that plug into HomeView and respond to Siri, using the hub as the connective layer rather than building every piece itself. That's a shift from a company that typically prefers to make the whole stack.
It also fits with other reporting on Apple's smart home ambitions. Gurman said earlier this week that Apple is lining up a partnership with LG to produce a smart lock, a thermostat and a doorbell, filling out a category Apple has largely ceded to Amazon, Google and smaller players like Ecobee and August.
Tuesday's event is expected to bring more than just HomeView. Gurman's reporting points to refreshed versions of Apple TV, with new Siri voice control, an updated remote and an A19 chip, and a new HomePod mini carrying an S10 chip meant to extend voice control and music playback around the house.
For now, HomeView is the headline item, and the one that would mark Apple's clearest attempt to turn years of scattered smart home efforts into something resembling a hub that actually gets used. Tuesday's event should settle the name, the price and the real specs, assuming Apple confirms what Gurman has been reporting for months.
HTFiled by The Home Tech Desk
TVs, home appliances and the smart home: refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, purifiers, robot vacuums, the sets on the wall and the platforms that connect them. Launches, prices in the US and India, and what changed.
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