We’ve known about Apple’s smart home plans for quite some time, though we only recently learned just how involved LG has been in the development. Yesterday, images of the devices in the upcoming collaboration leaked, and it seems we’ll get our first (official) look at ’em on 13 October during Apple’s ‘Welcome Home’ event.
Apple’s Greg Joswiak, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, shared a short teaser for the event. Invitations have also been sent out to certain members of the press, inviting them to an in-person Apple Experience in New York, kicking off at 09h00 ET. That’s 15h00 SAST, though it may not do you any good.
Home sweet home?
If the rumours are true, we’ll see a smart doorbell, a smart thermostat, a smart deadbolt lock, a mix of indoor and outdoor security cameras, and a floodlight camera. Those would fall under LG’s branding, not Apple’s. Assuming they show up, they’ll likely be pushed to the side to let the revamped Apple TV 4K and refreshed Home Hub shine. Both have flooded the rumour mill so long, we were beginning to question our own sanity. Whew.
The ‘Welcome Home’ branding all but confirms the smart home theme Apple is going for. The Apple TV is arguably the most deserving of an upgrade, not having had a revamp since 2022. New rumours from MacRumors point to the device housing an A19 SoC, and not the A17 Pro that we reported on back in August. Whichever model makes it to market, the upgrade seems intent on bringing a smarter Siri to the little black streamer.
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Also on the menu is a new HomePod mini, positioned as more of a ‘hub’ than anything the line-up has done before. Two models will be sold — one made to be mounted on the wall, and another with a half-dome base, à la the iMac G4. It’ll be fitted with cameras and sensors to detect when someone walks into the room. Custom interfaces can be deployed and will automatically be presented depending on who walked into the room.
The device, reportedly touting Siri AI capabilities, will launch at around $350 (∼R5,800). It’s unclear whether ‘Welcome Home’ will be a proper event viewers can tune into, or if Apple will let people know about the smart home drop via press release. Without any concrete details on where to watch the thing, we’re assuming the latter.
