Apple has confirmed a “Welcome home” event for October 13, and a long-rumoured smart display could finally take centre stage.
The confirmation follows a late September rumour that pointed to the same date, and Apple has now shared an official teaser video alongside the event’s tagline.
That earlier report named three products for the event: a smart display known as either the HomePad or Home Hub, a second-generation HomePod mini and a refreshed Apple TV 4K box.
Each of those devices should arrive with support for Apple’s new AI-powered Siri, which would bring the revamped assistant to the speakers and screens that anchor the company’s smart home ecosystem across living rooms and kitchens.
That AI focus places Apple in direct competition with Amazon’s Alexa+ and Google’s Gemini for Home, both of which have reached existing smart speakers and displays from those brands since 2025.
A square smart display with two mounting options
The HomePad reportedly carries a 6-inch square display and will come in two versions, with one built for desks and countertops and the other made for wall mounting inside the home.
Beneath that screen, the base houses a built-in speaker, while a metal arm holds the display in place and gives the device a different look from the tablet-style smart displays that Amazon and Google sell.
Some of those details previously surfaced through references in Apple’s macOS code, and the device has circulated in leaks for well over a year without any official acknowledgement from Apple.
Overdue updates for the HomePod mini and Apple TV
Beyond the new display, the HomePod mini 2 would replace a speaker that first arrived in 2020 and has gone without a full hardware successor for close to six years.
The Apple TV 4K faces a similar gap, since Apple last refreshed its streaming box in 2022, and a new model would give the company fresh hardware to run its AI-powered Siri on living room televisions.
Apple has not named the products it plans to show, and pricing and release dates for all three rumoured devices remain unannounced ahead of the Welcome home event on October 13.
