Apple set to launch major new home tech gadgets next week
Siri wants to get in your gaff, again
Apple has announced the date of its next big launch event: it’s coming next week, on 13th October.
But the really interesting bit? The tagline.
Welcome Home is the teaser Apple has given us for this one, suggesting we’re looking at some new home tech rather than just a refresh of, say, a MacBook or two.
The current top contenders are a new HomePod mini, a refreshed Apple TV box and something rather newer — a smart home hub.
It’s expected to be somewhat like a one of the smart displays you can already buy from, for example, Amazon. But hopefully with a bit more of that old Apple magic.
Retro revival?
One remaining question is where the retro angle implied by Apple’s teaser video comes in. The event announcement video features a woven version of Apple’s old rainbow logo, which was used from 1977 to 1998.
There’s a suggestion the home hub’s design could be inspired by the old Apple Mac G4, with a speaker base and a touchscreen display sprouting out of it on an arm. But then that old home PC was actually sold from 2002, long after the Apple logo had gone from rainbow to plain black. It’s still retro, mind.
The home hub is expected to have a camera and other sensors to tell when you’re in the room, and will let you do some of the more basic stuff you might use a MacBook for, like video calls.
Why now, when other tech brands have had smart screens out for years? Apple is in the process of releasing a much smarter AI-driven version of voice assistant Siri, and these home devices will be key vehicles for those smarts.
It’s not yet clear whether the launch will come with a full-on stage show or just a flung-out announcement as these home bits arrive at the Apple Store. But it’s one to put in your diary for Tuesday if you have any interest in Apple gear.
This isn’t all we’re apparently going to get from Apple HQ this month either. A busy one is ahead.
Later this month Apple is also reportedly set to announce some rather interesting computing hardware.
According to Bloomberg, later this month we will get a touchscreen MacBook Pro and an iPad mini with an OLED screen. The touchscreen Mac is expected to have an OLED display too.
Could October’s Apple releases turn out to be even more interesting and dramatic than the iPhones we got in September? It’s kinda looking that way, at least for those not too fussed about the iPhone Duo.
Skip the search — follow Shortlist on Google News to get our best lists, news, features and reviews at the top of your feeds!
