Apple 'HomePad' to Offer Magnetic Snap-to-Wall Feature and More

[Churchman]

Why not use your iphone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, watch for controlling devices?

Do we really need a new device for that?

Right!!!

>>> …serve as a centralized location for controlling smart home products, listening to music and podcasts, making video calls, and getting glanceable information…<<<

This is going the wrong way. This is a 1980s solution to a 2026 AI enabled challenge.

As many others have said, this needs to be decentralized, distributed, cloud-based, AI enabled App that your phone, pad, Mac, watch, Apple TV doohickey, Ear phones-buds, Apple speaker thing, CarPlay, etc., can hear what you say or ask and respond to you anywhere on any device.

A centralized hard product means you are bound to its location to use it. The point of Apple making smaller wearable and pocketable devices that can hold LLMs is to keep us mobile, untethered and unbound to a location, even in the home.

 

[macpro2000]

Sure hope the display is centered better than that above the base.

 

[k1121j]

Some kind of MagSafe attachment is highly possible. Hope that Apple Intelligence will be in a better stage when it launches. Waiting to see how Apple will price this.

lol I bet the pad and base will be sold separately combined way to much money.

 

[Tjosansa]

Apples incompetence to follow up on Siri after Steve Jobs launched it, and later AI, will hurt Apple.
This give me Nokia vibes. They had it all but they themselves just couldn’t see it and follow up.

 

[Veinticinco]

A hardware solution for a problem that doesn’t exist, and reliant on software that doesn’t work.

Rock hard pass.

 

[McTool]

To limit supply chain leaks, I could see them following in the path of their other new product categories like the iPhone, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. They’ll show this off during WWDC and highlight any revamped Siri and Home software for developers and have it available in September or October. Clearly this was supposed to happen way earlier, but it looks like WWDC is the most likely launch for any products heavily Siri-dependent like the AppleTV and HomePods.

Like in 2024?

 

[Pezimak]

One of the four Apple products I am very interested in this year, but I need to investigate more on hooking it up to my devices as they don't support Home Kit so you need a third party in between solution, trying out the Homey app at the moment.

 

[Premium1]

Isn’t it just an iPad on a wall? Don’t get it

Shhhh apple knows best and they will sell it to all of those who believe everything apple says and never question it. Making it highly dependent on apple intelligence is laughable since they are already a year plus behind with that.

 

[Brother Cavil]

When you upgrade to a new iPad, why not put your previous one on a stand in the kitchen and use it to be the hub for your HomeKit accessories installed throughout the house, announce the weather, play music, sports broadcasts, news, etc. I'm not seeing why we need a new device to perform these functions.

While I'm skeptical on the need for this type of device as well, I think it's safe to say that this device won't be anything like a repurposed iPad. Some rumors say that it will recognize users and adapt based on who is using it. An old iPad can't do that.

In many ways an iPad is too complicated for a "home hub" type device. I'd be surprised if this device has an App Store or even proper apps. I can imagine a device that offers a standard UI for specific home activities (audio and video, home automation controls, calendars, etc) and lets users choose which services to integrate, something similar to Apple TV channels. If it's build around Apple Intelligence, I think the feature set will be narrow in order to provide the best user experience. It'll be a very different product from the iPad.

 

[Macaholic868]

I’ll believe it when in 2037 Smart Siri is actually released.

 

[Fraserpatty]

Apple manufactured a need for this device by removing the home hub capabilities from the iPad which used to have it. That was so that if the iPad was in your home, you could control your devices from anywhere even out of town. But because they think ahead they took that function away from the iPad so that you would have a reason to buy this product that they were going to release later.

 

[artifex]

When you upgrade to a new iPad, why not put your previous one on a stand in the kitchen and use it to be the hub for your HomeKit accessories installed throughout the house, announce the weather, play music, sports broadcasts, news, etc. I'm not seeing why we need a new device to perform these functions.

Didn't Apple actually remove support for using the iPad as a home hub?

Some kind of MagSafe attachment is highly possible. Hope that Apple Intelligence will be in a better stage when it launches. Waiting to see how Apple will price this.

I hope it has both physical connectors (for whatever snap base it may have) and qi charging (for when you want to leave it lying around on your table).
I think the connector is better from a design standpoint for semi-permanent attachment (some people may hardly ever remove the pad from the wall) because wireless power transfer is less efficient. But the latter is certainly more convenient.

 

[grammatica]

I don't think it will be called "HomePad." I think "Home Control" is good. See: Camera Control on iPhone.

 

[nickf]

Unless it's capable of running iOS apps, I don't really see the appeal of this supposed device. Fine for wealthy Californians, I guess.

 

[farmerabc]

It’s not going to be called homepad. That name is ridiculous, why not just keep it simple and call it the Apple home hub?

I remember some people saying the name "iPad" was ridiculous when that was first announced.

 

[M-Life]

I want to be the MacRumors employee that was paid to ask AI to add a magnetic strip to the prototype image.

 

[PieVsCake]

Oh we are in big trouble

Ya.. its based heavily on a product that doesn't exist. We've been waiting for "Apple Intelligence" since the iPhone 14.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Oh we are in big trouble

Not if you don't buy this currently nonexistent product.

Also, considering Apple Intelligence will soon be using Gemini as the foundation (at least for the Siri portion of it, which is almost certainly what is meant by "Apple Intelligence" in this context), if/when this is released, the "Apple Intelligence" portion will work very well. Gemini 3 is excellent.

 

[Fr. Guido Sarducci]

Why not use your iphone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, watch for controlling devices?

Do we really need a new device for that?

This is the best post in this thread, but I'll reserve judgement until I can see the final product. For now, all of my smart home devices have been setup on a HomePod Mini using my iPhone and are controlled by speaking into my Apple Watch. This works without fail, so, for now, I'm nothing more than curious about this new product.

 

[Jamie0003]

I remember some people saying the name "iPad" was ridiculous when that was first announced.

True, but come on, HomePad?

 

[TwoBytes]

small screen, controls the home, listens to music... why this sounds like an iphone with a magsafe case!

Roll on 2nd hand market 😀

 

[vegetassj4]

There will be a larger version called the Homepad Max, or MaxiPad

 

[Kr0019]

Apple Home would be my guess for this product, or vapourware, like the Apple Intelligence they advertised in 2024. Seriously, the janitors could run Apple better than this current crop of muppets.

 

[tranceme]

I would prefer a larger format variant, 22" that can be on the wall and double as picture/calendar. And, it can me very small memory/cpu footprint and drive some home automation. Not looking to play games. Instead of paying a ton of money for a tiny 7" screen. Pretty sure this would sell like crazy. But, with this Ai craze, I'm sure they'll need to elevate the cpu/memory and overprice this thing.

 

[tranceme]

When you upgrade to a new iPad, why not put your previous one on a stand in the kitchen and use it to be the hub for your HomeKit accessories installed throughout the house, announce the weather, play music, sports broadcasts, news, etc. I'm not seeing why we need a new device to perform these functions.

That would be nice. And, you have a great point. But, Apple obsoletes and stops upgrading them. I have an older iPad Pro that works perfectly fine. But, doesn't get updates and some iCloud stuff doesn't work anymore. So, really I would have to essentially buy a second one fairly quickly to stay in support. Many people keep the old iPad for quite some time since it works like you said. But, need Apple to extend support for them. Or I would have to keep buying iPads for my kitchen.

Today there are Android driven 21-24"" displays that do all the home automation, calendaring, weather, play music and such for cheaper than iPad (iPad is $349 USD with a 11" screen). I say cheaper because if Apple were give us a 21" version it would be "$2k. And, they come in nice picture frame designed to hang on the wall. Yes, they are not as powerful as iPad. But, again, they purpose built and do many of the things we need.