Apparently, the top smart speakers aren’t smart enough. Tech brands have begun shoving screens on them to give you access to even more functionality. Amazon has the most popular options, but there are others available. And rumours suggest that Apple is going to be the latest to offer up a smart home device with a screen, with a new HomePod device.
There’s nothing official yet, but the rumour mill has been churning away. Here’s everything we expect for Apple’s HomePod with a display.
Apple HomePod with display: potential release date and price
For a while now, beta versions of Apple’s iOS software for the iPhone have referenced homeOS – the latest in iOS 17.4. There is no homeOS currently, so this suggests a new version of software for Apple’s home devices. So it seems like Apple has been working on this project for a while. But when can we expect to get out hands on it?
Top Apple analyst Mark Gurman reckons not until 2025. In his newsletter for Bloomberg, Gurman noted that he thought 2025 would be the earliest date to see a new HomePod with a display. That’s quite a way off yet.
As for how much the new HomePod might cost, don’t expect it to come cheap. The more recent HomePod 2 retails for $299/£299, while the smaller Mini goes for $99/£99. We’d expect the display version to land somewhere in between – with a smaller speaker but the added display. Somewhere around the $199/£199 is likely. Or, Apple could go for a big speaker and slap the screen on, resulting in a $399/£399 price.
Expected features on Apple’s new smart speaker
Things are a little unclear on what exactly this new HomePod with a display will look like. We’ve heard different things from a bunch of different analysts. The one thing everything can agree on is that it will have a display.
In March 2023, Ming-Chi Kuo reported that the new HomePod would likely be an iPad with better speakers – something like the new Pixel Tablet with its hub. It would have a 7-inch display and a dock that contained speakers. The primary function would be to control smart home devices in your gaff; anything that uses HomeKit.
But since then, Gurman has reported something more akin to the Echo Show line-up. It would be a smaller display that’s permanently attached to speakers. And in addition to smart home control, it would let you watch media and make FaceTime calls from the same device. That means it would have to have a camera on board alongside the speaker tech.
More recent rumours seem to suggest that we’ll see some version of this. Top Apple analyst Mark Gurman says that the smart display will feature a square screen that’s based on a small circular base. This would house the speakers too, so we might see some big sound capabilities. Apparently, you can expect it to look something like the old iMac G4, although it’s currently unclear if you’ll be able to reposition the screen. Personally, I really like this design idea, and I have an old iMac G4 in my collection.
Or there’s another option altogether: a HomePod Mini with a display on top instead of controls. Twitter leaker Kosutami posted that there was a prototype HomePod with the glass on top acting as the touchscreen. They shared photos, which 9to5Mac verified were real. So we know for certain that Apple is at least considering this option.
As for the device we’ll end up getting, things remain unclear. It looks like Apple is testing a number of different versions for this device. Our money is Echo Show-like tablet, and I’m glad that it’s going to look like the iMac G4. And what would such a device be called? Our guess is HomePod Max, although HomePod 3 could be an option.
