Most analysts agree that Apple’s lounge technique is considerably inscrutable. This makes it tough to foretell what the corporate will provide you with subsequent on this space. It’s a stark distinction to Apple’s iPhone lineup, the place you’ll be able to virtually mark each new product launch in your calendar.
Nonetheless, there’s each indication Apple continues to plod together with new merchandise for the house, and whereas current Apple TV and HomePod releases have been considerably uninspired, the excellent news is that Apple’s long-rumoured “HomePod Professional” remains to be on the horizon — and we may see it as early as subsequent 12 months.
Apple has supposedly been engaged on a HomePod/iPad hybrid gadget for a few years now. At the very least, that’s how lengthy we’ve been listening to about it. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman first hinted at a extra superior and highly effective HomePod within the spring of 2021, though he was additionally fast to notice the product was solely in “early improvement.”
Gurman’s report got here at a time when rumours of Apple’s lounge plans had been all over, with predictions of an Apple TV with a FaceTime digicam, an iPad with a HomePod speaker built-in, and even a large iPad for the house to function a competitor to Amazon’s Echo Present.
It wasn’t clear what route Apple was getting into, and we’re not satisfied even Apple knew for positive. There’s little doubt the corporate was exploring all these choices in its skunkworks and probably even constructing some fundamental prototypes. Nonetheless, we haven’t heard a lot about any precise improvement of those concepts.
As a substitute, we ended up with a second-generation HomePod earlier this 12 months that was little greater than a spec improve to the one Apple abruptly discontinued two years earlier.
There had additionally been ample rumours of that speaker arriving, though most predicted it could come sooner, and it had been largely forgotten by the point it confirmed up in January.
The Curious Case of the Full-Sized HomePod
Your entire saga of the full-sized HomePod has been an odd one. Not solely did its cancellation seemingly come out of nowhere, however solely three months later, Apple launched the 2021 Apple TV 4K with some nice new options unique to the discontinued HomePod. It even had an image of the HomePod on the again of the field. Additional, Apple had launched a brand new Residence Theatre Audio function for the HomePod solely 4 months earlier than it was discontinued.
Consequently, a pair of HomePods turned among the finest encompass sound programs you possibly can add to an Apple TV, and a number of people snatched up as many HomePods as they may earlier than they disappeared fully — and it remained in excessive demand even a 12 months later.
Some people believed this was precisely what Apple hoped for; that discontinuing the HomePod would create a man-made shortage and permit the corporate to filter its warehouses with out taking a substantial loss. Whether or not that was Apple’s intention or not, it positively labored, clearing the stage for the full-sized speaker to reappear as a second-generation mannequin.
The ‘HomePod Professional’
Happily, that’s not the whole thing of Apple’s plans for its sensible speaker, and it’s essential to not mistake the latest HomePod as a misreading of what’s occurring inside Apple.
Now, respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has weighed in to point that not solely is that this new HomePod nonetheless in improvement, but it surely’s prone to be unveiled within the first half of 2024.
We’ve identified for some time that Apple is engaged on a number of HomePod units, together with the most recent successor to the unique HomePod. Nevertheless, a couple of 12 months in the past, we additionally heard that it had begun improvement on a brand new HomePod with a full-sized show — the identical gadget that Gurman mentioned was in its early phases the 12 months earlier than.
As regular, Kuo’s info comes from the provision chain, the place he’s found that Apple has added a brand new provider, Tianma, to the combination completely to offer shows for this new HomePod. Since HomePods have by no means had shows earlier than, it’s a strong lead that one thing huge is occurring. It’s apparently additionally going to be a proving floor for Tianma, which may find yourself supplying iPad panels if issues go effectively with the HomePod.
Kuo doesn’t supply a lot perception into what this HomePod will appear like or what its capabilities shall be. Nonetheless, it’s a protected assumption that Apple goes for a house hub right here — one thing that’s been conspicuously lacking from its HomeKit ecosystem.
Kuo does point out it should mark “a big shift within the firm’s sensible house technique,” which echoes Gurman’s feedback two years in the past that this product “would signify Apple’s most bold smart-home {hardware} providing up to now.”
In fact, that’s not setting a very excessive bar. Whereas there’s a lot to love about Apple’s HomeKit know-how, most of that magic is within the software program. By comparability, Apple’s {hardware} improvements are fairly underwhelming. The most recent HomePod gives a quicker processor, temperature and humidity sensors, and built-in Matter help, however these are additionally issues the HomePod mini already had. Apple additionally launched a brand new Apple TV 4K final 12 months, however the one vital additions had been extra storage, a quicker processor, and HDR10+ help.
That doesn’t imply the most recent Apple TV 4K and HomePod aren’t nice items of know-how, however they’re incremental upgrades to what’s come earlier than — evolutionary somewhat than revolutionary. A brand new “HomePod Professional” — or no matter it’s finally known as — could transfer Apple’s house ambitions forward in a fairly large manner, particularly if it evokes the corporate to proceed alongside that highway in constructing a extra complete Apple-powered house ecosystem that goes past its computer systems and cellular units.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]