In short: Apple is reportedly engaged on a brand new model of its HomePod speaker as a part of a revamped good house technique. Famend Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes a redesigned HomePod with an built-in 7-inch show may very well be unveiled as early as the primary half of 2024. Kuo mentioned Tianma Microelectronics Co. will function Apple’s unique provider for the shows used within the new HomePod.

Cupertino is outwardly hoping a HomePod with a display screen will improve its versatility, leading to tighter integration with its different {hardware} merchandise.

Apple launched the primary HomePod 2017 and launched it in February of the next yr. Preliminary opinions have been combined, resulting in weak gross sales out of the gate. This ultimately prompted Apple to discontinue the gadget in March 2021 after the launch of the smaller and extra inexpensive HomePod Mini.

Apple was not keen to surrender on the full-size HomePod, nevertheless. Early this yr, the corporate launched a new version of its good speaker that includes a 4-inch woofer with 20mm of journey alongside an array of 5 horn-loaded tweeters (every with its personal neodymium magnet) and an inside low-frequency calibration microphone for computerized bass correction. The second-gen HomePod additionally consists of 4 far-field microphones for Siri entry and helps spatial audio through Dolby Atmos. It’s priced $50 cheaper than the unique, at $299.

(A HomePod with a show might turn out to be the centerpiece of a revamped Apple good house technique)

Kuo believes Tianma has a golden alternative in entrance of it. Assuming all goes effectively with the shows for the in-development HomePod, the provider may very well be referred to as on to supply panels for future iPad fashions.

Kuo didn’t state as a lot, however it’s not a stretch to think about a display-equipped HomePod would assist multi-touch and doubtless additionally come geared up with at the least one digicam. Ought to that come to fruition, it might problem related units like Amazon’s Echo Present and Meta Portal for market share.

Picture credit score: HomePod by Howard Bouchevereau, Smart Home by Stephan Bechert


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