Apple smart home hub with iMac G4-style design reportedly set for Oct. 13 launch

Mark Gurman, reporting for Bloomberg (gif link): Apple Inc. plans to make its long-delayed push into the smart-home market on Oct. 13, marking a critical product expansion for the company under new Chief Executive Officer John Ternus. At the center of the strategy is a smart-home hub code-named J490, according to people familiar with the matter. Apple also plans to announce the first update to the HomePod mini since that device’s 2020 debut and its first new TV set-top box since 2022. [...] The home hub will take the form of a roughly 6-inch square display, with versions that can be mounted on a wall or placed on a countertop, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the products haven’t been announced. [...] Because the device is intended to remain stationary, it has a single FaceTime camera on the front and no rear camera. The product has microphones and speakers in its connected base. The hub is about as thick as an iPhone, and its display is surrounded by a quarter-inch, black bezel reminiscent of older iPads. It has rounded corners and no sharp edges. The device lacks a battery, so it has to be plugged in at all times, and there are no volume or power buttons. The product comes in Apple’s standard gray aluminum finish and includes a USB-C port for power. The screen sits above a metal, round base with multiple rings of perforated speaker holes and connects to it through a polished metal arm. Users can manually tilt the display forward or backward. And the base has a rubberized bottom to help it stay on a table. If you think that sounds like the beloved but short-lived “sunflower” iMac G4 from 2002, that’s exactly what Gurman says it resembles. As is so often the case, Gurman seems to know many details about the device, but yet doesn’t know its name, or price. Presumably the speakers are good enough to serve by themselves, but how good are they? Can they be paired with HomePods to create stereo pairs? The hub’s defining feature will be its ability to serve multiple members of a household. It is designed to recognize who is speaking to it or approaching it, and then display personalized content and provide answers based on that person’s data and accounts. When a user walks up, for example, the device will show that person’s contacts, messages, calendar appointments, notes and preferred app layout. The interface can then change automatically when another recognized household member approaches. It will also have a mode for visitors that hides personal information. The device identifies users by their voices or through a facial-recognition system, though the latter is less reliable than Face ID on the iPhone. Users can require secondary authentication through an iPhone if they don’t want to rely solely on voice or facial recognition. The iPhone also serves as a fallback when the hub cannot identify someone correctly. Given that Apple Watch is used as an identifier to unlock your Mac (and, says Apple, iPhone Duo), it would make sense if that worked with this device too.  ★ 

Macworld If you’ve been saving up to get an iPhone Duo when it launches on October 23, you might need to scrounge together a few more dollars. According to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is gearing up to make its “long-delayed push into the smart-home market” before its new folding phone even arrives. Gurman says the products will arrive on October 13, but doesn’t specify whether there will be an online event or a mere update to its website. But the centerpiece product is definitely event-worthy: a home hub “reminiscent” of the famed sunflower iMac G4. According to the report, several versions of the home hub, which has been casually dubbed HomePad in the press, are in the works. The so-called “standard version” has a 6-inch display “about as thick as an iPhone” surrounded by chunky black bezels “reminiscent of older iPads.” It will come in Apple’s “standard gray aluminum finish” and has a design that mimics that iMac G4: The screen sits above a metal, round base with multiple rings of perforated speaker holes and connects to it through a polished metal arm. Users can manually tilt the display forward or backward. And the base has a rubberized bottom to help it stay on a table. There is a second version of the hub, Gurman reports, that is designed to be mounted on a wall with “a thin, square-shaped base beneath the display that houses the speakers and microphones.” He notes that this model will need to remain connected to power at all times, which could make for some unsightly dangling USB-C cables. Other than its retro design, the hub is “designed to recognize who is speaking to it or approaching it, and then display personalized content and provide answers based on that person’s data and accounts.” It will switch views automatically based on who walks up to it using voice and facial recognition. However, Gurman notes that the camera system “is less reliable than Face ID on the iPhone.” It can also use a nearby iPhone to authenticate the viewer and will have a “mode for visitors that hides personal information.” The hub will run a new Siri AI-based operating system that “blends elements of the Apple Watch, Apple TV and iPad interfaces,” and will reportedly display photo slideshows and digital clocks when not in use, similar to Standby mode. Gurman says many of Apple’s first-party apps will be included on the device, including Calendar, Messages, Photos, FaceTime, Notes, Reminders, Music and Podcasts, but it doesn’t appear to have an App Store, at least at launch. Apple is also expected to launch a new HomePod mini and Apple TV 4K with faster processors. The mini is expected to come in new colors but otherwise look the same as the current model. Gurman says Apple is also “working with third-party manufacturers on new devices designed for the Siri AI home platform.”

Apple's long-rumored smart home hub will have an iMac G4-style design and a host of unique features, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. The smart home hub is said to feature a square 6-inch display, with variants that can be placed on a countertop or mounted on a wall. It features a single FaceTime camera on the front, with microphones and speakers in its connected base. Gurman described the design as follows: The hub is about as thick as an iPhone, and its display is surrounded by a quarter-inch, black bezel reminiscent of older iPads. It has rounded corners and no sharp edges. The device lacks a battery, so it has to be plugged in at all times, and there are no volume or power buttons. The product comes in Apple's standard gray aluminum finish and includes a USB-C port for power. The screen sits above a metal, round base with multiple rings of perforated speaker holes and connects to it through a polished metal arm. Users can manually tilt the display forward or backward. And the base has a rubberized bottom to help it stay on a table. The standard version looks reminiscent of the famous iMac G4 from 2002 that has a large display that sits on a half-dome-shaped base. Apple has also developed a second version, code-named J491, designed to be mounted on a wall. It has a thin, square-shaped base beneath the display that houses the speakers and microphones. The base sits flat on the wall below the screen. This version also must remain connected to power through a USB-C cable. Apple envisions customers placing several of the devices throughout their homes. Users will be able to control smart home devices, make video calls and intercom-style messages, play audio, and view slideshows of photos. The device will also be able to serve as an information hub for the kitchen, with the ability to watch videos and look up recipes with voice commands. It will also be able to recognize who is speaking to it or approaching it, and display personalized content and answers accordingly. The interface will change automatically depending on who is using the device, and there will be a mode for visitors that hides personal information. The smart home hub will identify users by their voice or facial recognition, but the latter system is said to be less reliable than Face ID, and users will be able to enable a secondary authentication method via an iPhone if they wish. The iPhone will also serve as a fallback solution for when the hub cannot identify a user correctly. In dark rooms, a Mac-style Edge Light feature will illuminate the area around the screen to help the camera recognize the user. The device purportedly blends interface elements of the Apple Watch, Apple TV, and iPad. Siri AI continues to feature the same dark visual style used on other devices. iPhone-style widgets are available and users can choose a wallpaper and rearrange apps and widgets by pressing and holding them, just like Apple's other devices. The UI is heavily built around slideshows and clock displays, similar to the revamped StandBy Mode on the iPhone Duo. One clock is said to resemble "a lava lamp with an overlay of the time that shows the hour in digital form with minutes listed below." Users can then swipe up from the clock screen or photos to open the app launcher. The device will include many of Apple's most frequently used apps, including Calendar, Messages, Photos, ‌FaceTime‌, Notes, Reminders, Music and Podcasts. The Home Screen features Apple Watch-style apps that open into iPad-style interfaces with multiple panels. For example, the Messages app has a two-panel layout like it does on the ‌iPad‌. When a user taps a thread in their list of conversations, a second pane opens to display the conversation feed. This interface is said to carry over to many of the other default apps. The device is reportedly set to be introduced on Tuesday, October 13, alongside new HomePod mini and ‌Apple TV‌ models. Related Roundup: iMacTags: Apple Command Center, Apple Smart Home Display, Bloomberg, Mark GurmanBuyer's Guide: iMac (Don't Buy)Related Forum: iMacThis article, "Apple Smart Home Hub to Feature iMac G4-Style Design" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums