Apple Retail Stores Preparing for New Home Product Launches

[MacRumors]

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Apple is reorganizing parts of its brick-and-mortar stores this fall to make room for new home products.

Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says the teams responsible for store layouts are preparing changes to the "Avenues," or the perimeter walls in Apple's newer stores, where accessories like HomePod, Apple TV, AirPods, and Beats are displayed alongside third-party accessories.

The work is said to involve rearranging sections of the Avenues and adding accessory bays for upcoming new devices.

Apple is already believed to have an upgraded Apple TV and a new HomePod mini coming up. Gurman said in July that both were nearly ready, with faster chips for Siri AI but no major design changes. Rumors indicate an A17 Pro chip or better in the new Apple TV, and an S9-series chip, improved sound, and a red finish for the HomePod mini, the current version of which is now over 2,000 days old.

All of that being said, Gurman says the scale of the retail changes suggests prep-work for the launch of its long-awaited home hub with a display (aka the rumored HomePod with Display or "HomePad").

Gurman reported last month that the smart home hub will arrive at some point between October and early next year. It's expected to have a 7-inch square display, and will be sold with either a tabletop base or a wall mount. There's also said to be an all-new operating system built around tvOS with Siri AI powering the device.

Code strings uncovered in macOS Tahoe 26.7 last week suggest the home screen will use a Widget Gallery similar to the iPhone's Lock Screen customization options. The code also indicates that the new device's home screen could have many of the same options for icons, widgets, and clock faces, with widgets from a linked iPhone suggested automatically.

Apple will need a dedicated space where customers can see how the hub works, what its purpose is, and how it fits into the wider home setup, Gurman reports.

Article Link: Apple Retail Stores Preparing for New Home Product Launches

 

[red elma]

Bring it on... we’ve waited too long.

 

[Astuces iOS]

Prepare to see nobody at store too because no one will pay for overpriced products ! (Or will they 🤨)

 

[turbineseaplane]

They could clear up some space in the back by getting rid of the Vision Pro areas nobody is using.

It’s a great spot to stand and not be disturbed by anyone inside the store though.

 

[Happy_John]

So is it “an all new OS” or is it “based on tvOS”?

Realistically, it’s just another fork of iOS, but it would be great if Gurman could stop flip-flopping on the semantics.

 

[Nyx1]

Really hope something good about this product

 

[Mr_Ed]

They could clear up some space in the back by getting rid of the Vision Pro areas nobody is using.

It’s a great spot to stand and not be disturbed by anyone inside the store though.

Good idea. Unless the “hub” does something special that has not been mentioned in rumors so far, the foot traffic will end up being about the same as it is for AVP in a matter of weeks anyway.

 

[Happy_John]

Good idea. Unless the “hub” does something special that has not been mentioned in rumors so far, the foot traffic will end up being about the same as it is for AVP in a matter of weeks anyway.

Price will be a factor. Significantly cheaper than a base iPad? If so, it might sell.

If someone wants to get into HomeKit and wants a device to be a hub, they could get this, an AppleTV or a HomePod mini.

AppleTV is great, if you have a TV. If you don’t but still want to do HomeKit stuff…

If the HomePad is cheaper than an iPad, but not significantly more than a HomePod mini, and has a decent speaker, it might be interesting.

Personally, though, I think the price will be too high.

 

[svish]

Waiting to see the new home hub and will be interesting to see how it is going to be priced. All other products are going to be minor updates with new chips only. HomePod mini is long due for an update.

 

[burgman]

Good idea. Unless the “hub” does something special that has not been mentioned in rumors so far, the foot traffic will end up being about the same as it is for AVP in a matter of weeks anyway.

Pretty sure there is a untapped market of Amazon Alexa users who will jump even if it is only equal in features, new Siri can work as well as the new Alexa, and not stupidly priced.

 

[JungleNYC]

Very excited about this one. Lots of potential here, and in Apple Home in general. And if they can just nail basic, dependable Siri AI integration they'll have a home run.

 

[abatabia]

How many times has he regurgitated a version of this? I’ll believe it when I see it.

 

[Minato1990]

Oh I cannot wait for this.
A new Apple tv finally
One thing that I will be looking forward to is watching for example and anime like attack on titan or bleach(current seasons) and they pause and send you a bunch of information in words on the screen but its in Japanese. I’ll be able to get the new siri to translate it for me right there. WOHOU!!

 

[sputnikBA]

They are going to need to detail how families interact with it and how it handles multiples users & multiples accounts.

 

[bigjupe]

They are going to need to detail how families interact with it and how it handles multiples users & multiples accounts.

Uh yeah, obviously.

 

[philstubbington]

Until Apple support UHD on the Apple TV I see no reason to upgrade.

 

[Heyitsgabe]

Prepare to see nobody at store too because no one will pay for overpriced products ! (Or will they 🤨)

I will be buying the Apple TV just because I’ve waited two years plus. Can’t wait to have an Apple TV in the bedroom finally

 

[Astuces iOS]

I will be buying the Apple TV just because I’ve waited two years plus. Can’t wait to have an Apple TV in the bedroom finally

Damn bro, you really should have bought the previous gen before price increase… now you will pay a lot just for an Apple TV…