Rumor: Apple will introduce HomePod speaker with 7″ screen next year

According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will introduce a HomePod with a screen in the first half of 2024. The speaker should enable users to control their HomeKit equipment via the screen.

Kuo calls the purported speaker represents a potential “major change in Apple’s smart home strategy.” The screen on the HomePod would be 7″ diagonal, the analyst predicted. Current HomePods already have some kind of display on the top, but this consists of lighting that emits a certain kind of glow based on what function the speaker fulfills and serves no further function.

Rumors have been circulating for some time about the arrival of a HomePod with a display. Two years ago Bloomberg already wrote about it, but no release date was linked to it at the time. That is now different with Ming-Chi Kuo’s prediction. Earlier this year, Bloomberg also spoke about the arrival of a smart screen from Apple, which is also intended to control smart home devices. This would essentially be a kind of low-end iPad, which is not integrated into a HomePod speaker and is therefore a different product.

With the introduction of such a product, Apple would compete with the devices of Amazon and Google. Those two companies have had a similar product on the market for years with their Echo Show and Nest Hub respectively.

Apple HomePod (2023)