The ‘HomePad’ is Coming — And It’s Bringing Magnets
Concept image of Apple 'HomePad' [iDrop News / AI]
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Apple’s long-awaited home hub isn’t likely to show up until this fall, but when it does, it may pack in a surprise magnetic mounting feature.
Rumors of Apple’s work on a Nest- or Echo-like smart display hub have been swirling for years in various forms, ranging from display-equipped HomePods to a giant iPad for the home. However, it wasn’t until late 2024 when they began to solidify, with multiple sources pointing to an iPad-like home hub that could be mounted on a wall or set atop a table.
While this new smart hub — a device that some have colloquially dubbed the “HomePad” — was initially expected to launch in early 2025, it seems that the challenges Apple faced in smartening up Siri also affected the home hub, as it was widely expected to rely on the more contextually aware voice assistant and other Apple Intelligence features to do its thing.
Sadly, Siri’s delays appear to have thrown a monkey wrench into Apple’s entire home product lineup — and things haven’t gotten much better. Despite a partnership with Google to use foundation models from Gemini, reports suggest the new and improved voice assistant still needs some more time in the oven.
Most had anticipated “Siri 2.0” would be ready for iOS 26.4, but now it looks like the preliminary improvements won’t come until at least iOS 26.5, slated to arrive closer to June. However, Apple also reportedly hopes to have a full chatbot version ready for iOS 27.
With that timeline, it’s not a big surprise that the so-called “HomePad” won’t likely arrive before that. While there was a small possibility that Apple might be ready to unveil it by its June Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who has been the most consistent source of insights into Apple’s plans, reported today that Apple is delaying its smart home display until later this year as its “artificial intelligence struggles are rippling through its product plans.”
This is the same device, code-named J490, that was reportedly scheduled for March 2025, and was said to even be in active testing in the homes of key employees. By all accounts, the problem hasn’t been the hardware, but the software. Specifically, Siri.
A Wall Pad?
The device is said to look like “a square iPad that can be either affixed to a half-domed-shaped speaker base or a wall attachment,” and while Gurman hasn’t shared much about the mechanics of it, leaker and prototype collector “Kosutami” revealed today that at least one version of the device they claim to have seen uses a “MagSafe like snap-to-wall feature.”
Interestingly, Kosutami also mentioned some kind of doorbell integration, echoing comments they made last February about a MagSafe doorbell. This makes it a bit less clear which device the leaker is talking about, but there’s no reason we couldn’t see MagSafe on both a “HomePad” and a smart doorbell.
Gurman goes on to say that a key feature of the smart display will be “a facial recognition-based system that can recognize people when they walk up to the device,” so that it can display personalized information for each user. That sounds like it would be similar to the voice recognition that already exists on the HomePod, which can also call up personal calendar appointments and messages based on who’s speaking to it.
The “HomePad” or whatever it’s called is likely to be the center of a whole collection of first-party home accessories, including a smart doorbell with Face ID, a smart home camera, and a display-equipped HomePod that’s believed to be a separate product from the smart display. We’re also still waiting on a new Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini, but Gurman hints at what we’ve already surmised: that these products are intrinsically tied to the “HomePad,” partly for marketing reasons and partly because they rely on new Apple Intelligence features that may end up being hosted on the HomePad.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
