HomePod 2 is just the beginning as Apple reportedly readies ‘slate’ of smart home devices

By Becky Roberts
published

Expect an Amazon Echo Show-like device, for starters

Echo Show 5
(Image credit: Amazon)

While the just-announced HomePod 2 may not be the most exciting Apple launch, much more evolution than revolution it seems, the company reportedly has more exciting smart devices in the pipeline. Apple is working on a 'slate’ of new smart home devices, according to a new Bloomberg report.

People familiar with the plans suggest the first fruit of this labour will be a “low-end iPad” designed to control smart home HomeKit products such as thermostats and lights, stream video and facilitate FaceTime chats. Essentially an Apple version of the Amazon Echo Show (pictured) and Google Nest Hub, then. The report continues to say that this smart display will have magnetic fasteners to allow users to mount it onto a wall, positioning it as more of a static home device than a portable companion.

It’s been almost a year since Bloomberg first reported on the prospect of “new speakers with screens and cameras", and while this new report by Mark Gurman buckles down on the likelihood of such a device appearing, the expected release date isn’t until next year. You never know, that timeline might even put it in contention for an Apple-made Micro LED screen.

Also appearing on the 2024 roadmap is apparently a new Apple TV streamer upgraded with a faster processor, while the development of an intriguing all-in-one Apple TV, HomePod and FaceTime camera device is, the report says, “still ongoing”.

If Apple really is diving deeper into the smart home realm, as it appears to be, 2024 could be a prolific period of Apple-branded smart device launches. After all, the company is a fair bit behind Google in terms of smart hardware, with no displays, cameras or doorbells – or anything 'smart' beyond its HomePods and Apple TV, really – to its name. Having arrived late to the smart speaker market with the HomePod in 2018, perhaps it doesn't mind playing catch up here.

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Read our Apple HomePod 2 review

Becky Roberts
Becky Roberts

Becky is the managing editor of What Hi-Fi? and, since her recent move to Melbourne, also the editor of Australian Hi-Fi magazine. During her 10 years in the hi-fi industry, she has been fortunate enough to travel the world to report on the biggest and most exciting brands in hi-fi and consumer tech (and has had the jetlag and hangovers to remember them by). In her spare time, Becky can often be found running, watching Liverpool FC and horror movies, and hunting for gluten-free cake.