Rumours of an Apple-made smart display intensified this weekend as a seasoned insider also predicted an Echo Show rival could arrive in 2025.
In his weekly Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman reckons the device would run on a new operating system called homeOS and could arrive as early as next year.
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He described it as a “low-end smart display for using FaceTime and controlling home appliances” that would introduce the category ahead of the launch of the more exciting device with a robotic limb that has also been heavily mooted recently. That’d cost $1,000 or more, Gurman reports.
Gurman, whose sources within Apple are thought to be second to none, reckons both products will offer Apple Intelligence tools, which the company wants to underpin its entire product line – including HomePod and Apple TV.
As for homeOS, Gurman expects that the HomePod software and tvOS will eventually be combined into a single operating system that powers HomePod, Apple TV and smart displays.
He writes: “Beyond adding Apple Intelligence, these new products will run a new operating system called homeOS. This move follows Apple’s playbook: Each of its major hardware categories has its own operating system — a variation of macOS or iOS. Apple TV already has software called tvOS, and this will be the basis for homeOS. I expect both of the operating systems to ultimately get combined and run on every Apple home device.”
The device’s form remains up for question, Gurman writes, with the company envisioning products that magnetically attach to a wall, or sit on a desktop.
An Apple smart display has been mooted for years now and, it remains to be seen whether there’s a demand for one. The robotic variety would represent a new product category for Apple, but an Echo Show or a Google Nest rival which would effectively be an iPad attached to a HomePod mightn’t see a huge uptake.
