Apple is finally ready to talk about its smart home hub. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the company will announce the long-rumored device on October 13, just three days before iPhone Duo pre-orders open and well ahead of the foldable phone's October 23 ship date.
The hub, which press outlets have been calling HomePad though Apple hasn't confirmed the name, will be joined by a refreshed HomePod mini and an upgraded Apple TV. All three are built around the rebuilt Siri AI that shipped with Apple's latest operating systems this year. That's what delayed the whole thing: the hardware was ready as far back as 2025, but Siri wasn't.
The HomePad itself reportedly features a 6-inch touchscreen that's about as thick as an iPhone, surrounded by chunky black bezels that look like they came off an older iPad. One version sits on a half-dome speaker base that evokes the sunflower iMac G4, a nostalgic design choice that feels very Apple. A second version is designed for wall mounting, with a thin square base that houses the speakers and microphones. That one stays plugged in via USB-C, which means dangling cables unless you've got in-wall power.
The device will run a new operating system blending elements of iOS, watchOS, and tvOS, with support for FaceTime calls, music playback, video streaming, and smart home controls for HomeKit-compatible devices. Voice and facial recognition will let the hub identify who's speaking, personalizing responses for different household members.
But here's the tension: nobody knows what Apple will charge. The figure floating around is roughly $350, pulled from a single Bloomberg report last October and repeated everywhere since without independent confirmation. If that holds, the HomePad would cost more than most Echo Show and Nest Hub models, which already work with far more third-party devices. The original HomePod launched at $349 in 2018, dropped to $299 within 14 months, and was discontinued by 2021.
Apple clearly thinks Siri AI is the differentiator, and maybe it is. But until October 13, we won't know if the rebuilt assistant feels quick enough to justify putting a screen on a speaker that costs as much as an iPad.
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