Apple's "Welcome Home" product launch is happening tomorrow, and as the name suggests, the company is expected to debut new home accessories, including the long-rumored home hub.
The headline device is the HomeView, a multi-function home hub designed for all of a household's occupants. Built around Siri AI, it is rumored to feature an A18 chip and 8GB of RAM. Rumors suggest it will answer questions with Siri, control smart home devices, display the time, weather, widgets and a user's calendar events and reminders, play music, podcasts, audiobooks, videos and movies, support video calls, show the news, messages and emails, and display recipes. It will also rely heavily on Siri for voice input and include a 6-inch touch display.
The hub is expected in two models: one that mounts on the wall and another attached to a half-dome speaker base with a flexible tilting arm. It will not have its own App Store but will support Apple apps such as Safari, News, Music, FaceTime, Photos, and Mail. A presence sensor and camera will use a variation of Face ID to recognize who is nearby and show customized content. Its interface is expected to be widget-based, resembling StandBy mode on the iPhone, and rumors suggest better sound quality than the HomePod mini. The hub will need to be plugged in via USB-C, and the speaker version is expected in gray, silver, starlight, and rose. Rumors put the price around $350.
Apple is also reportedly updating the Apple TV 4K, though its design will remain unchanged. The changes are internal: the device is expected to gain an A19 chip with 8GB of RAM, Apple's N1 networking chip for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread, and the capacity to support Siri AI, offering many of the same features found on iPhone and iPad. The A19 is expected to bring a major performance upgrade for both Siri and gaming, including ray tracing and mesh shading.
Source: MacRumors · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing