Apple might be developing an iPad-like display designed nearly solely for managing smart home devices.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the device will operate like a low-end iPad with a few key purposes — controlling HomeKit-enabled devices, making FaceTime calls, streaming video and more.
Like Amazon’s Echo Show 15, the smart home display is reportedly designed to be mounted to a wall or magnetically to an appliance like a fridge. In the past, this smart home device has been rumoured to be more of a HomePod/Apple TV hybrid, but if these rumours are accurate, that design direction seems to have shifted drastically.
What’s strange about this rumour is that at one point, you could actually use Apple’s iPad line as a home hub, though the company removed the functionality following the release of iPadOS 16 (possibly because it’s working on this dedicated hub device).
According to Gurman, Apple is aiming for a 2024 launch for its smart home display. Earlier this week, the tech giant revealed its new 14-inch and 16-inch M2 Pro/Max-powered MacBook Pro (2022) and refreshed 2nd-Gen HomePod.
Source: Bloomberg Via: The Verge
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