While we didn’t specifically note the benefits a display would bring in our HomePod 2 review, Apple seems committed to adding a screen to its smart speaker as new rumors emerge suggesting this is the plan for the HomePod 3 .
This coming from an Apple enthusiast @KosutamiSan on X (the social network formerly known as Twitter), and apparently the images are of a prototype speaker device that Apple has been working on.
This is what sources spoke to say 9to5MacThis prototype is still actively being developed, although “Apple has not yet decided” whether a launch will actually take place. The codename of the device would be B720, for future reference.
The 9to5Mac report also adds that tweaks have been noticed in certain tvOS apps to allow them to run on screens with different aspect ratios – and that’s significant, considering the current HomePods run a modified version of tvOS.
iFuck thought I had never made an HP with touchScreen, but it happened, it used to be my AprilFool’s joke
pic.twitter.com/FUvS4HcYj7October 21, 2023
pic.twitter.com/FUvS4HcYj7
The story so far
This is not the first time that rumors have circulated about an Apple smart display based on the HomePod. In March, respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that a HomePod with a display would appear sometime in 2024.
The story goes back even further, to February 2022: it was noted that Siri made a mistake by mentioning some HomePod screen, and that was before the HomePod 2 was unveiled in January 2023.
As it turns out, the HomePod 2’s design was largely along the same lines as the original HomePod and didn’t have a screen attached to it. Yet it seems certain that Apple is at least considering expanding its range with a smart display.
Amazon and Google already have their own smart speakers with displays attached to them, and Apple definitely has the hardware and software know-how to build a HomePod with a screen on the top – so watch this space.
