The reasoning is quite simple: the current iterations are 4-6 years old. Apple’s home products (primarily HomePod mini and Apple TV) have been the talk of the town for the past couple of years .
Imminent release
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported that it’s in the works. HomePod mini should be receiving a bump from the S5 chip to the newer S9 chip, or potentially even better. It’ll be a modest improvement hardware wise, though the main hope is that Siri AI will be supported with this upcoming HomePod mini – making it a much more capable assistant. Apple TV 4K , on the other hand, should be getting a bump from the A15 Bionic to the A17 Pro. Hopefully there’ll be something newer. Regardless, this chip bump will bring it up to spec for Siri AI, and should allow for some of the Apple Intelligence capabilities to run locally. There’s also been some reporting indicating there’ll be a tweaked remote design. This OS will allow the product to make FaceTime calls, interact with Siri AI, manage smart home devices, and much more. The device, dubbed ‘HomePad’ by many, will sport an A18 chip. Also coming somewhat soon is a potential update to the full-size HomePod. We don’t know a timeline for this one, but it’ll most definitely come with a newer chip to support Siri AI to some degree. The company is preparing to launch its first smart home accessories: a security camera and a smart home doorbell . Rather than just making the software for the smart home, Apple is also jumping into actually making the products. It’s unknown when these’ll launch, but you can read more about them here . Lastly, Apple will launch a more advanced version of its aforementioned smart home display product. It’s been described as a tabletop robot .
It’ll honestly feel a bit dated since that’s a 3 year old chip already, but thats what’s been reported. It’ll sport a 7-inch square display and run a new operating system dubbed homeOS (at least internally). This version will have a robotic arm and a bigger, 9-inch display.
There may be a few new color options, a new wireless chip (likely the same N1 we saw debut in the iPhone last year), and some audio improvements.
