Apple to launch a HomePod with a 7-inch display in 2024: Report

Apple launched its next-gen HomePod earlier this year. The second-generation HomePod looks exactly like the original HomePod that was introduced back at WWDC 2017, but it features significant upgrades over its predecessor in terms of sound and smart features. Now, word is that Apple has already started working on its next-gen HomePod that will feature major upgrades over the company’s existing device especially in terms of the form factor and utility. Also Read: Apple iPad Pro Launched In India With New M5 Chip, Ultra Retina XDR Display: Price, Specs

Apple analyst Ming Chi Kuo, in a blog post on Medium, said that the company is working on a new HomePod design that will include a 7-inch display. This new HomePod will launch in first half of 2024 and come with a display panel that has been made by Tianma. Furthermore, Kuo says that Tianma could be the exclusive panel supplier for the third-gen HomePod and that this new HomePod ‘could enable tighter integration with Apple’s other hardware products, marking a significant shift in the company’s smart home strategy’. Also Read: Apple Launches 14-inch MacBook Pro With M5 Chip And Up To 24-Hour Battery Life: Check Price And Availability

“Tianma’s long-term prospects in Apple’s supply chain look promising…Tianma’s next orders from Apple may be iPad panels if the shipment goes well,” the Apple analyst wrote in the post. Also Read: Amazon Layoffs: 15% Employees Fear Job Cuts, Who Will Be Impacted?

It is worth noting that this is not the first time that reports of Apple working on redesigning its HomePod have surfaced online. As per past reports Apple is experimenting different form factors, one of which is a HomePod with a display, that will ultimately drive its smart home ecosystem. One idea that the company is exploring is an iPad-like device that can be mounted on a wall, something like the Amazon Echo Show 15, to control HomeKit-linked devices, play videos, and make FaceTime calls among other things. Another form factor that the company is testing is a device that “combines the functionality of the iPad, Apple TV, and HomePod” or in other words, a HomePod with a display. While the idea isn’t exactly new — Amazon already has launched the Amazon Echo Show 8 with a stationary 8-inch display and the Echo Show 10 with a revolving display that follows the user, it would be new to Apple. It would also indicate the direction in which the company aims to take in terms of its smart home ecosystem. All said and done, Apple is yet to make a comment on the matter so we will have to wait for more details from the company or the analysts to say more about Apple’s next-gen HomePod.