Apple is prepping a smart HomePod hub that will allow users to dock iPads to create a smart hub system with hi-fi speakers. The approach would be similar to what Google is doing with its upcoming Pixel Tablet.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
I’m told Apple is working to bring similar functionality to the iPad as soon as 2023. I reported last year that Apple is exploring a stand-alone device that combines an iPad with a speaker hub. The idea is to offer something that users can place on a kitchen counter, in the living room or on their nightstand. But Apple also has worked on an iPad docking accessory that it could sell separately and would accomplish much of the same thing.
Regardless of its ultimate approach, the move would mark one of Apple’s most significant pushes into smart-home devices, expanding on its still small foothold in set-top boxes and speakers.
Apple also continues to work on an updated version of the HomePod that would be larger than the product’s mini version and a combined Apple TV and smart-speaker device with a camera for FaceTime and other functions. Until those are ready, though, the 12-year-old iPad could be the company’s best bet in making some noise in the smart-home space.
MacDailyNews Note: Gurman also reports that launches via press release loom for the new 11- and 12.9-inch M2 iPad Pro models, a new iPad with USB-C and a design similar to the iPad Pro, 14- and 16-inch M2 MacBook Pro models, an M2 Mac mini, and a new Apple TV with an A14 Bionic chip and 4GB of memory (vs the A12 Bionic chip and 3GB in the current Apple TV 4K).
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