(Pocket-lint) – It looks like Apple could be working on a flurry of smart home devices that could include not only a new HomePod and HomePod mini, but a smart display too, competing with the likes of Google’s Nest Hub and Amazon’s Echo Show .
According to Mark Gurman’s latest Power On newsletter, Apple has “at least four new smart home devices in its labs”, though he does add that “not all will see the light of the day.” Gurman mentions one of these devices as an update to the original HomePod that was discontinued in 2021, which he has reported on previously.
That device is said to be named B620 and it’s claimed it will run the same chip as the Apple Watch Series 8, whilst being closer to the discontinued HomePod “in terms of size and audio performance” rather than the HomePod mini.
An updated HomePod mini was also mentioned though in the newsletter too, along with a kitchen device that combines an iPad and a speaker, and a living room device that combines an Apple TV, camera, and HomePod.
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The iPad and speaker combo device, we see as being a smart display like the Nest Hub and Echo Show models, though perhaps with an interface that allows you to do a little more, especially if it runs iPadOS. It’s possible a new stripped down operating system could happen on a smart display though.
Gurman believes the smart display or living room device could launch at the end of 2023, or early 2024, but that’s all the information offered for now. An Apple smart display makes complete sense though.
Writing by Britta O’Boyle.