Apple's 'Welcome Home' Event Expected to Bring Smart Home Hub, homeOS and Refreshed HomePod Mini and Apple TV

The hub, which may be called HomePad, HomeView or simply Apple Home Hub, is reported to carry a 6-inch square touchscreen that can be mounted on a wall or placed on a table or countertop. Mark Gurman, cited by The Verge, said the countertop version would somewhat resemble the iMac G4, with the screen attached to an arm set into a half sphere. The device is expected to identify who is interacting with it through voice or facial recognition and pull up matching contacts and calendar appointments, with an iPhone offered as a secondary form of identification to keep personal data more secure.

That device would run a new software platform called homeOS. Apple may have registered the trademark through a shell company named Home Operations Suite LLC, a step the company has taken before to quietly secure rights to a name. Gurman described the interface as a streamlined one that "looks like a mashup of iOS, tvOS and watchOS," built around smart home controls such as thermostats and smart locks and also able to make FaceTime calls. It would carry the usual Apple apps and widgets, including Apple Music, Podcasts, News, Reminders, Notes and Siri AI.

Changes to the HomePod Mini and Apple TV are described as minor. Both keep their current designs but gain a new processor to handle the added demands of Siri AI. For the HomePod Mini this would be the first update since it was announced on October 13, 2020, exactly six years before the Welcome Home event, and it is expected in new colors including green and pink. For the Apple TV it would be the first hardware refresh since 2022; the new processor is also meant to speed up navigation, which can become laggy. Both are expected to use Apple's N1 chip, which supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 6.0.

The event is also likely to include products that integrate with HomeKit and add features built on homeOS, though The Verge reported that Apple is not expected to share much of the spotlight with partners. A leak has already shown LG smart home products including deadbolts and thermostats. Those are reported to include an NFC-based "Proximity Control" that shows a hint in the iPhone's Dynamic Island when the phone is held near the device, as well as a "tap to set up without power" pairing feature.

Not on the agenda, according to The Verge, is the long-rumored touchscreen MacBook. Gurman has said that device will debut later this month.

Editor's Summary

Apple's "Welcome Home" event on October 13 in New York is expected to center on a new smart home hub with a 6-inch touchscreen, a homeOS platform, and refreshed HomePod Mini and Apple TV models with new processors and support for Siri AI. LG smart home devices such as deadbolts and thermostats are also expected to appear as HomeKit partners. A touchscreen MacBook is not expected at the event and is said to be coming later in October.