Apple's new smart home display, designed to power Apple Home, could be launching soon. Here's what the rumors say will be coming, and when. A lot of what we've been hearing about this new home hub isn't exactly new. Rumors say that this device was expected to launch in the spring of 2025, before the state of Apple Intelligence forced Apple to delay it. But that was all in 2025, and 2026 is poised to be more promising, with Apple Intelligence and Siri AI on track and looking great in the recent iOS 27 betas. As the launch nears, we've been getting more rumors as well.

Convenient and thoughtful design: The unnamed Apple Home smart display will come in two flavors. There is said to be a countertop version with a roughly 7-inch screen, sitting on a fabric-covered half-sphere. Then there is a second, wall-mounted version that also has the same 7-inch display. That makes both versions slightly smaller than the current 8.3-inch iPad mini. It's unclear how the wall-mounted version would work, but it seems very un-Apple to expect customers to wire it into the wall themselves. Some battery-powered, magnetically attached version would be more likely. We've heard rumors of a built-in 1080p camera for FaceTime video calls, as well as facial recognition to identify the current user. Inside, it will be using at least an A17 Pro processor and likely Apple's N1 networking chip to power Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread.

A whole new home OS: Powering the whole device is going to be a new operating system for Apple. This has been widely referred to as homeOS, but Apple hasn't made it official, let alone given it a proper marketing name. This new OS is based on tvOS, similar to the HomePod software. It will run many native apps out of the box, such as FaceTime, Safari, Apple News, Home, Music, Calendar, Notes, and Photos. You'll be able to interact with many of these apps via gestures, recognized by the camera. Since it will know each of the home users, it will be able to load the correct profile and user data based on who is interacting with the display. You'll be able to access Siri AI and Apple Intelligence on this device. Most things you can do on your phone will be possible on this display, which can also show you results, unlike with HomePod. This makes it a combination smart speaker and smart display. You can look up recipes in Apple News, listen to music via Apple Music, or get answers to your questions. In a recent leak via a beta of macOS Tahoe 26.7, we learned more about how the Home Screen will operate. Code revealed that it will work similarly to iPhone and iPad, with the option to customize icons, add clocks, and use widgets.