HomePod with screen, the first of its kind arrives in 2024. Apple is changing its strategy for the smart home and among the central products of the new course it seems that the first HomePod with screen (here the 2023 model), in production at least since 2021 but probably even earlier, it will have an important role, if not even a protagonist, starting from the beginning of 2024, the launch period indicated by the well-informed Ming Chi Kuo.
There will be a total renewal of the design, but also a strong expansion of the functions offered compared to what has been seen so far. According to the analyst, the first HomePod of this kind will provide a 7-inch touch screen and, thanks to the display, it will make integration with other Apple computers and devices easier and more profound.
It will compete above all with Amazon’s Echo Shows and also Google Nest: even if the report does not offer clues, it is easy to imagine functions similar to those of competitors contextualized in the Apple world.
For example, the ability to view content and information via dedicated apps, video calling and video conferencing via FaceTime, weather forecasts, games, recipes with video instructions, watching movies and TV series via Apple TV+, viewing personal photos and videos, controlling of smart home devices and more.
In recent years Mark Gurman has reported work in progress on a device that merges Apple TV and HomePod, as well as a HomePod with a screen mounted on a robotic arm, as already seen in Echo Show 10, finally also a HomePod video to hang on the part , a sort of iPad as a smart home control unit.
To make the upcoming device, Apple has commissioned the Chinese Tianma as the exclusive supplier of the displays. If the collaboration goes well, Cupertino is likely to increase orders and the importance of the tasks assigned to this supplier, new to Apple but long-standing for the Android universe.
The new HomePod with screen may continue to work with the tvOS variant as seen so far, but other clues have pointed to the homeOS platform in the past.