Macworld

On Tuesday at 9 am ET, Apple will launch a new crop of products as part of its Welcome Home launch. While we’re not expecting a proper keynote presentation to announce the new stuff, there should be a lot to see, with no fewer than three new products expected to arrive Tuesday morning. Here’s what you can expect from the announcement.

Welcome Home: How to watch

Since this isn’t a special event, but rather an “Experience” for members of the media, Apple isn’t streaming a keynote on its site or YouTube channel. However, you can check out all of the new stuff right here as it’s announced, as well as on Apple.com and Apple Newsroom.

Welcome Home: What we expect

As the Welcome Home tagline suggests, Tuesday’s announcements will all be related to Apple’s smart home. While two of the products are expected to be relatively minor updates, they will all be part of a significant push into becoming a major player in the smart-home market, with Siri AI at the forefront. Here’s what’s coming:

Apple TV 4K: It’s been four years since the 3rd-gen Apple TV 4K arrived, and Apple is finally ready to release a new model. It’s expected to have a faster chip with Apple Intelligence support.

HomePod mini: Apple’s smaller HomePod hasn’t received an update since its 2020 debut, so to say the 2nd-gen model is overdue is an understatement. However, it’s not expected to get much more than a new chip and a new array of colors.

Smart home hub: Tuesday’s big announcement will be the debut of Apple’s long-rumored smart-home hub. There will reportedly be two versions—one that sits on a table and another that hangs on a wall—and it will run a new interface powered by Siri AI.

A new HomePod mini and Apple TV 4K should arrive on Tuesday.

Foundry

Welcome Home: Latest news and updates

There’s been a flurry of last-minute rumors about Apple’s slate of announcements, mostly from a report by Mark Gurman at Bloomberg. Here are the latest news and rumors:

Apple TV 4K: The update to Apple’s set-top box is expected to have an A19 chip with 8GB of RAM. That’s double the RAM and a big step up from the current model’s A15 Bionic processor.

HomePod mini: Like the Apple TV 4K, the 2nd-gen HomePod mini is expected to sport an S10 processor, which is actually only two versions ahead. However, it will be powerful enough to support Apple Intelligence and Siri AI.

HomeView: Apple’s smart home display will reportedly be named HomeView, which, according to Mark Gurman, “reflects how the device is meant to be used: as a display that people look at and control primarily with their voice.”

Delayed launch: Gurman reports that while the Apple TV and HomePod mini will likely ship this month, the smart hub isn’t due to arrive until mid-November, “about a month after its unveiling.”

Focus on hardware: Gurman reports that Apple’s HomeView hub will support “a limited selection of Apple applications” and won’t have an app store for third-party developers. Instead, Apple will reportedly rely on “an array of third-party accessories that connect to the HomeView and can be controlled through Siri, the Home app and other Apple devices.”

ADT partnership: MacRumors connects some dots to infer that Apple and ADT may enter into a partnership to promote Apple’s smart-home efforts. According to a job posting and conversations with people at the company, ADT has been training its employees on iPhones and has begun requiring NDAs for some training. ADT previously partnered with Google to monitor systems using Nest Hubs and Google Assistant. 

Apple Welcome Home Launch