Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported today in his Power On newsletter that Apple’s long-rumoured smart home hub will be named HomeView, with an announcement on 13 October and a mid-November release. Apple was earlier reported to be planning the hub as HomePad, and has confirmed a launch event for 13 October.
Bloomberg said the HomeView runs on an A18 chip and features a floating display atop a speaker base inspired by the iMac G4, with a wall-mountable version that swaps the speaker base for a square base. The device is primarily voice-controlled through Siri AI and also supports touch input, according to AppleInsider.
According to 9to5Mac, the speaker-base version comes in Space Gray, silver, starlight and pink, while the wall-mountable version comes in silver or Space Gray only. The HomeView runs Apple apps and has no App Store, though it may project third-party app widgets from a nearby iPhone.
Bloomberg said Apple is also refreshing the Apple TV and HomePod mini alongside the launch, and has partnered with appliance makers including LG on smart home accessories such as thermostats, door locks and doorbells. Exact pricing, the precise release date within mid-November and availability regions have not been reported.