In the quiet corridors of Cupertino, Apple is said to be imagining a new kind of presence in the home — one that listens, watches, and follows. Reported prototypes suggest the company is testing smart displays and hybrid devices that would place it alongside Amazon and Google in a domestic market it has long observed from a distance. Whether these ideas become products remains uncertain, but the simultaneous removal of iPad-as-home-hub functionality hints that Apple may be preparing to offer something more deliberate in its place.
Apple reportedly developing smart display to compete with Echo Show
Apple is clearing the field for a new product category
Mark
So Apple is building a smart display. That's the headline here, right?
Mimi
Not quite. Apple is testing four smart home devices, and two of them sound like they could be smart displays. But Gurman is careful to say none of these are guaranteed to become actual products.
Luke
Right—and that's important. We're talking about prototypes. Companies test things all the time that never ship. How confident is Gurman's sourcing here?
Mimi
He's a reliable reporter on Apple's plans, but he's also being appropriately cautious in his language. He's not saying these will launch; he's saying they could appear in late 2023 or 2024.
Mark
What makes the kitchen device interesting as a smart display?
Mimi
It's an iPad-sized screen paired with speaker hardware, so it's positioned for countertop use. The moveable arm is the clever part—it could track you as you move around the kitchen.
Luke
But that's based on earlier reporting from Gurman too, right? The arm detail isn't confirmed in this latest piece.
Mimi
Correct. This newsletter references his previous reporting on that feature.
Mark
And the other device—the living room one with the camera and Apple TV built in—that sounds like nothing else on the market.
Mimi
Exactly. It's a hybrid that doesn't have an obvious competitor. That's either very ambitious or very risky.
Luke
Or it never ships. We should be clear about that.
Mark
Fair. But why now? Why is Apple suddenly interested in this space?
Mimi
The HomeKit hub capability is being removed from iPads in iPadOS 16. That suggests Apple is making room for a dedicated device.
Der Puls
- Apple is testing four smart home devices, including a kitchen display that could physically track users as they move — a level of spatial awareness no current Apple product attempts.
- The quiet removal of HomeKit's iPad hub feature in iPadOS 16 is creating a gap in Apple's ecosystem, pressuring the company to fill it with dedicated hardware.
- A second prototype — fusing HomePod, Apple TV, and a camera into one living room unit — has no direct competitor, signaling Apple may be reaching for an entirely new product category.
- Despite the ambition, none of these devices are guaranteed to ship, with possible launch windows stretching to late 2023 or 2024 at the earliest — if they arrive at all.
In the quiet corridors of Cupertino, Apple is said to be imagining a new kind of presence in the home — one that listens, watches, and follows. Reported prototypes suggest the company is testing smart displays and hybrid devices that would place it alongside Amazon and Google in a domestic market it has long observed from a distance. Whether these ideas become products remains uncertain, but the simultaneous removal of iPad-as-home-hub functionality hints that Apple may be preparing to offer something more deliberate in its place.
Apple is quietly testing smart home hardware that could mark a meaningful shift in how the company competes in the domestic technology space. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, four devices are currently in development — two of them refinements of existing products like the HomePod and HomePod mini, and two that venture into unfamiliar territory.
The more grounded of the two experimental devices is a kitchen-focused smart display: an iPad-like screen paired with speaker functionality, designed to answer Amazon's Echo Show and Google's Nest Hub on their own turf. Earlier reporting suggested it could mount on a moveable arm capable of tracking users as they move through a room — a physical evolution of the Center Stage software already found in newer iPads.
The second prototype is harder to categorize: a living room device that merges a HomePod, an Apple TV, and a camera into a single unit, with no obvious market equivalent to compare it against.
The timing of a separate decision adds weight to the speculation. Apple is removing the ability to use an iPad as a HomeKit home hub in iPadOS 16 — a feature users have relied on for years. That quiet subtraction reads less like a casualty of progress and more like a deliberate clearing of space for something new.
Still, prototypes are not promises. A late 2023 or 2024 arrival is possible, but far from assured. For now, those seeking a smart display must look to Apple's competitors — or hold onto their iPads while that workaround remains available.
Apple is quietly working on smart home devices that could reshape how the company competes in a market it has largely sat out. According to reporting from Mark Gurman, the company is testing four different home-focused products right now, though none of them are assured to actually reach consumers.
Two of the four are refinements of existing products: a new HomePod speaker and an updated version of the HomePod mini. The other two are more speculative. One combines the form factor of an iPad with speaker functionality, designed for kitchen use—essentially Apple's answer to devices like Amazon's Echo Show or Google's Nest Hub. The other prototype is stranger: it merges a HomePod, an Apple TV, and a camera into a single living room device with no obvious competitor on the market today.
The kitchen-focused device has been the subject of earlier reporting from Gurman, who noted that it could be mounted on a moveable arm. That arm would allow the screen to track a user as they move around the space, following them the way a person's gaze might follow a conversation partner. Apple's newer iPads already have software-based tracking through a feature called Center Stage, but a physical arm would presumably offer more reliable and responsive movement.
Apple's history with smart speakers has been modest. The HomePod mini has had limited commercial traction, and the company has never released a dedicated smart display. For years, users could configure an iPad as a home hub through Apple's HomeKit system, but that capability is being phased out with the latest version of iPadOS. The timing is suggestive: Apple may be clearing the field for a new product category rather than letting users solve the problem with hardware they already own.
But these devices remain far from certain. Gurman's reporting suggests they could arrive sometime in late 2023 or 2024—if they arrive at all. Product prototypes often never make it to market, and the company's track record with home devices suggests caution. For now, anyone looking for a smart display has to turn to competitors, or make do with an iPad while that option still exists.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
None of these four products are guaranteed to become fully fledged products— Mark Gurman, Power On newsletter
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