Apple plans to make its smart home push on Tuesday, October 13, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported on September 30, citing people familiar with the matter. The lineup is a new smart home hub code-named J490, the first HomePod mini update since its 2020 debut, and the first new Apple TV box since 2022. Apple has not announced any of it.
Bloomberg called it "a critical product expansion for the company under new Chief Executive Officer John Ternus." The report did not say whether Apple will run a full event video or use press releases and shorter videos, MacRumors noted.
J490: a 6-inch square screen on an iMac G4-style arm
Per Bloomberg, the hub has a square 6-inch display. It is about as thick as an iPhone, with a quarter-inch black bezel and rounded corners. There is no battery, so it stays plugged in through USB-C. There are no volume or power buttons. The finish is Apple's standard gray aluminum.
The screen sits above a round metal base with rings of perforated speaker holes, connected by a polished metal arm. Users tilt the display forward or back by hand. The base has a rubberized bottom. Gurman compared the look to the 2002 iMac G4. A single FaceTime camera sits on the front, with microphones and speakers in the base.
A second version, code-named J491, mounts on a wall. Its thin square base sits flat below the screen and holds the speakers and microphones. It also needs USB-C power.
Voice and face ID for each person in the house
The hub identifies users by voice or face. Bloomberg says the face system is less reliable than Face ID. Users can turn on a secondary check through their iPhone, which also works as the fallback when the hub gets someone wrong. In dark rooms, a Mac-style Edge Light lights up the area around the screen for the camera. The interface changes with the person using it. A visitor mode hides personal information.
Apps include Calendar, Messages, Photos, FaceTime, Notes, Reminders, Music and Podcasts. Apple Watch-style icons open into iPad-style layouts with several panels. Messages uses two panes. Slideshows and clock faces carry much of the interface, similar to the revamped StandBy on iPhone Duo. One clock looks like "a lava lamp with an overlay of the time." Listed jobs include smart home control, video calls, intercom-style messages, audio, photos, videos and voice-driven recipe lookups.
HomePod mini and Apple TV keep their designs
The new HomePod mini and Apple TV keep their current looks, with faster chips to support Siri AI. HomePod mini adds colors including pink and green. All three products were first planned for 2024 and slipped while Apple worked on the new assistant. Siri AI reached existing devices in beta this month; see our Siri AI English beta report.
The full-size HomePod is not in the October group. "Apple aims to eventually update its larger HomePod speaker as well," Gurman wrote. That speaker was last updated in 2023. Bloomberg also describes a higher-end hub with a 9-inch display on a robotic arm that swivels 360 degrees, plus a home security camera and sensor that can tell which room a person is in and does not record video. No dates were given for those.
October 13 and the iPhone Duo calendar
The date falls inside the iPhone Duo run. Apple opens Get Ready for Duo pre-orders on Monday, October 12. Pre-orders start Friday, October 16 at 5 a.m. Pacific. The phone ships on iOS 27.1 on October 23. Daring Fireball suggested Duo review units could reach writers on October 13 or 14, 9to5Mac reported.
Photo: Apple Newsroom (HomePod mini, Apple TV 4K)
Source: Bloomberg via Reuters, MacRumors and 9to5Mac; iClarified; Daring Fireball via 9to5Mac
