Leak Confirms Apple's Work On 'Home Accessory'

[ChrisA]

Nice! A home accessory with artificial intelligence would be cool!

Yes. It is called an "iPhone".

This rumored device is just an iPhone and a deskstand/charger. Well, actually a little less than that. The "iPhone" has no cellphone features, no rear-facing camera, and most of the apps are removed. But otherwise it is just am iPhone on a stick

If you wanted this functionality you could place your old phone (with no SIM card) on a charger stand. As long as the old iPhone could run the latest IOS, you'd be good.

What does this do that a cheap used phone can't do?

 

[James_C]

If it actually looked like that, I'd consider buying one, even though I have no use for it.

I was thinking the same, love the G4 iMac, I have a working one that I have upgraded the RAM, added Wireless and installed an SSD. Still use it to rip the occasional CD into MP3 tracks, as it is the only Mac I have with a CD drive.

 

[jimimac71]

It's very sad that Apple have chased customers away with super premium pricing. Apple TV is a good example of this, great device but very overpriced for what it is.

The Nvidia Shield is probably the best. It costs more than Apple TV but is likely quite superior. I've never used one. The Roku Ultra is less than Apple TV and probably lesser in quality.
Many of these products for streaming have low storage. Apple TV has plenty and the product could be the best if that storage was more useful. It needs access to the apps for iPad. Then I might have use for it.
It is unfortunate iPad uses a 4:3 aspect ratio. Not good for streaming video or casting to ATV.

 

[subjonas]

I've heard this a lot recently, but it's so odd to me. Why are ppl not using these devices? I have an Echo dot, an echo show and an Google Home mini and use them day in and out...to stream news, turn stuff on and off, tell me what's going on with whether, find out how long it will take to get somewhere with traffic, find out what other shows someone has been in while watching TV...math stuff, facts...kinda endless.

I use my HomePods around the house for a ton too, to the point where I miss it if I’m traveling, so I’m considering taking my HomePod mini for longer trips. Hey Siri on phone can kind of fill in, but it’s not as convenient, nor good sounding. I do all the stuff you listed except streaming news, plus some more things I commonly do: set alarms and timers, control TV playback, check store hours, ask for definitions, conversions, check my calendar schedule, and of course play music and podcasts.

I didn’t realize you could stream news. I may need to start doing that.

 

[subjonas]

It’d need to function differently to be worth it. So for example, depending on what room it’s in, any video calls from saved contacts will be automatically accepted. So a seamless experience with calling loved ones and chatting with them. No fumbling to accept or anything.

Things like video calls, home automation, iMessage, etc appear on the lock screen with nothing to open or press.

Basically live widgets on the screen.

Except for small children’s rooms, I don’t think automatically accepting video calls is a good idea lol. Suddenly appearing in any room unannounced and unexpected is too dangerously awkward 😂. Using voice to answer would be safer and probably seamless enough.

 

[jimimac71]

Yes. It is called an "iPhone".

This rumored device is just an iPhone and a deskstand/charger. Well, actually a little less than that. The "iPhone" has no cellphone features, no rear-facing camera, and most of the apps are removed. But otherwise it is just am iPhone on a stick

If you wanted this functionality you could place your old phone (with no SIM card) on a charger stand. As long as the old iPhone could run the latest IOS, you'd be good.

What does this do that a cheap used phone can't do?

People post regularly to the iPod/iPod Touch part of this forum. What you are describing is an iPod Touch.
If you are talking about using an old iPhone, the latest OS is not going to happen.
At the same time, you're not including sound. You will need external speakers of some kind.
Build an iPod Touch SE with specs like the iPhone and it could find a niche with users.
Headphone jack and FM radio and I am interested. GPS too and I'm in.

 

[subjonas]

It is unfortunate iPad uses a 4:3 aspect ratio. Not good for streaming video or casting to ATV.

But great for everything else!

 

[klasma]

So.. an ipad with a stand, but welded together? What am I missing?

An immobile phone.

 

[ric22]

I wonder how an Apple Intelligence Homepod is going to work. I imagine it will be similarly split between common Apple-based "tasks" that will be done on-device or via the Apple LLM, but I can also see a lot of usage for conversational discovery which will be done at ChatGPT (or Bard etc). I can foresee the line "would you like me to send that to ChatGPT?" being uttered a lot...

An AI HomePod would need a lot of computing power, and cost a lot to produce... a much cheaper way for Apple to do that would be to give it a much cheaper 'brain' and let another device in the home do the grunt work. That's assuming they want to do the computation locally... do it all on servers and the requirements drop quickly.

 

[Madmic23]

I just want a screen that displays my favourite Apple Photos albums, allows me to control my HomeKit devices, and shows me the weather. I’m currently using the Google Nest Home for that, but I’ve stopped using Google Photos, so an Apple solution would be nice.

 

[Sev_11]

They might be bringing back Apple WiFi router I think it was called the apple airport

 

[klasma]

iMicrowave?
iBlender?
iToaster?
iVacuum?
iFan?

AirFryer
AirPurifier

iRon — featuring Apple’s most ironic design yet

 

[Cervisia]

An immobile phone.

So they've rediscovered the landline...?

 

[jimimac71]

But great for everything else!

I can hold my Galaxy Tab A in one hand with the tips of my fingers. It is 16:10.

 

[klasma]

So they've rediscovered the landline...?

Airline was already taken.

 

[drrich2]

The article photo looks strongly reminiscent of an Amazon Echo Show 8 (albeit with the 'arm' to the monitor portion) with more speaker emphasis. If it functions in a similar niche, the two will compete. The question then becomes which will be more compelling?

Apple's 'walled garden' ecosystem provide slick Apple device inter-operability, whereas competitor products are often more 'open.' I wonder to what extent various users will find the Apple product superior to an Echo Show (our kid has an Echo Show 8, 3rd gen.). I'm guessing it won't have near the 3rd party support the Echo Show (Alexa assistant) does now.

People who aren't in the Apple ecosystem (e.g.: no Mac) may not see much point.

In a nutshell, I wonder if this is going to play out like Apple T.V. vs. Amazon Fire T.V. and Roku. What is this thing going to offer that's better? Guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Todd Fisher]

They should make iMacs like that again

It was the best iMac design ever IMO

Loved how you could just finger touch move the screen around/up/down, etc

It was great but ours eventually got to the point that it wouldn't hold its position without slipping thru the day

 

[aknabi]

They should make iMacs like that again

It was the best iMac design ever IMO

Loved how you could just finger touch move the screen around/up/down, etc

Today's Apple design and exec team lack the inspiration or imagination do to something so fun, joyful and inspired... along with a hint of nostalgia... KIBB... keep it bland and boring (remember when Apple used to make fun of the boring Windows Beige boxes.. and laugh at MS users for having to reboot their devices as a solution 😂)

 

[deevey]

iMicrowave?
iBlender?
iToaster?
iVacuum?
iFan?

Basically turn into Xiaomi

 

[Supercyborgninja]

F

Except for small children’s rooms, I don’t think automatically accepting video calls is a good idea lol. Suddenly appearing in any room unannounced and unexpected is too dangerously awkward 😂. Using voice to answer would be safer and probably seamless enough.

yeah I’m saying you can map rooms and depending on which room it’s placed in it’s automatic. Say Kitchen, Living Room, Garage. But bedrooms are all manually accepted.

 

[wanha]

The graphic used to all the rumors about new Apple TV/home accessory is horrible. I believe Apple still has more creative designers.

The graphics are like asking AI to create something new - it can't, it can only remix old stuff.

 

[wanha]

Nice! A home accessory with artificial intelligence would be cool!

100%.

It would also be a home hub with a screen... take my money

 

[victorvictoria]

I don't care how smart, sophisticated or useful it may be. My would NEVER allow an iMac G4 (or any computer) into our living room! Our three desktops live in the basement, and are used for bulk storage, since they all have disk drives that are far larger and cheaper than anything Apple ships with current consumer laptops. We just connect to them with our MacBooks when we want something archival.

 

[klasma]

Only apple would try to charge $2K for that setup...

There are a number of $2K+ soundbars:

Devialet Dione: The All-in-One 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos Soundbar

www.devialet.com

Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max review

What Hi-Fi? Awards 2024 winner. Sennheiser's enormous Ambeo soundbar justifies its price tag.

www.whathifi.com

Bang & Olufsen Beosound Theatre review: Big, bold, and pricey

Eye-catching, technically advanced, and loftily priced, the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Theatre may be the last soundbar you'll ever need.

www.techhive.com

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Wonder what update the Apple TV is going to get?

Thought they might just be bumping the chip so they can stop making the one in the current model but it looks like the current model uses the A15 same as the iPad Mini, iPhone 13, 14 and SE which are all still on sale so can't see it being that.