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According to a new report, Apple intends to follow this week’s relaunch of the HomePod with a slew of new smart-home products. A specialised iPad for controlling lights and heating, smart displays, and a faster Apple TV set-top box are among them.
According to leaker-analyst Mark Gurman, writing for Bloomberg, Apple hopes to challenge Amazon and Google, which have dominated the smart home market with their respective Echo and Nest products. The Cupertino company has been present in this market for some time, thanks to the HomePod, Apple TV, and HomeKit ecosystem of third-party products, but it has yet to capture a significant share. According to Strategy Analytics, the HomePod accounts for approximately 13% of the smart-speaker market.
The first step in this strategy will be the release of a new tablet. Gurman describes it as “basically a low-end iPad,” and says it will be used to control smart-home systems like heating and lighting, as well as for FaceTime video calls. According to Gurman, Apple will sell a magnetic wall mount for the new display, transforming it into a home device rather than a portable one.
According to Gurman, who cites “people with knowledge of the plans,” Apple also intends to launch a number of larger smart-home displays. Details are scarce, but these are likely to compete with rival products such as the 10-inch Google Nest Hub Max ($229) and 15.6-inch Amazon Echo Show ($249.99), depending on how big Apple goes. Smart displays, like the rest of the smart-home market, are currently dominated by Google and Amazon, with Facebook and Lenovo vying for the remaining users.
Aside from screen size and quality, the key feature of such products is their intelligent assistant: Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa are both popular and feature-rich, whereas alternatives such as Facebook Assistant may be more limited or less user-friendly. This latter category includes Siri, at least for the time being, but Apple is said to be working hard to bring Siri up to the same level as Google and Amazon: According to Gurman, “upcoming changes to Siri” are part of a larger strategy “aimed at turning around Apple’s fortunes.”
Apple has yet to release a product specifically for this market, though some iPads have been pressed into service as a somewhat clunky and expensive substitute. The displays are unlikely to be available until at least next year.
Finally, Apple is said to be working on an update to its Apple TV set-top box, which has previously been mentioned as a potential hub for smart-home devices. According to Gurman, a model with a new chip will be released in early 2024, though it will most likely not support 8K video streaming.
Furthermore, Apple is still working on a future edition of the Apple TV-smart speaker combo with a FaceTime camera, but according to Gurman, the project has been delayed and is no longer expected to launch this year.
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