Apple is reportedly planning to unveil three smart home products on Tuesday, October 13, 2026. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the wave includes the long-rumoured Apple smart home hub, a new HomePod mini and a new Apple TV. Nothing here is confirmed by Apple, and as of September 30 no event invitation has surfaced. Gurman also reports that all three devices were originally slated for a 2024 launch, and slipped while Apple worked on its Siri overhaul.
The hub is the genuinely new product of the three. Per Gurman, the HomePod mini and Apple TV keep their existing designs and get faster chips for Siri’s AI features. The speaker also reportedly picks up pink and green colour options. androidpure covered the backend leak pointing to those two devices in our September 25 report on the HomePod mini 2, iPad mini 8 and Apple TV 4K. This report mainly adds a date and the hub.
What the Apple Smart Home Hub Is Said to Be
Gurman describes a square display of roughly 6 inches. MacRumors, writing up the report, compares the look to Apple’s old iMac G4. Here is Gurman’s own description of the device:
The hub is about as thick as an iPhone, and its display is surrounded by a quarter-inch, black bezel reminiscent of older iPads. It has rounded corners and no sharp edges. The device lacks a battery, so it has to be plugged in at all times, and there are no volume or power buttons.
Other reported hardware details include a grey aluminium finish and a USB-C port. The base is described as round metal with perforated speaker holes and a rubberised bottom. Gurman reports a second, wall-mountable version exists under the codename J491.
On the software side, the hub is said to handle smart home controls, video calls and intercom, audio playback and photo slideshows. Voice-driven recipe lookup in the kitchen is reportedly part of the pitch. Facial and voice recognition are also mentioned, along with a visitor mode. The interface is described as iPhone-like, with widgets and rearrangeable apps covering Calendar, Messages, Photos, FaceTime, Notes, Reminders, Music and Podcasts.
A Different, More Expensive Hub Is Reportedly Later
This is the detail most likely to get muddled, so it is worth separating clearly. The device reportedly arriving on October 13 is the 6-inch model described above. Gurman also reports a separate, higher-end hub with a 9-inch display mounted on a robotic arm that swivels 360 degrees. That one is described as a later, more expensive product, and it is not part of the October wave.
The same report mentions a privacy-focused home security product. It is described as a camera and sensor combination that detects whether a room is occupied without recording video. That is also a separate, later device.
If it ships as described, it is a different privacy proposition from a camera streaming footage to a cloud service. We have no details yet on what data such a device would send, or where it would go.
Gurman further reports that Apple is revamping HomeKit as part of the broader home push. The full-sized HomePod is said to get its own update at an unspecified later date.
How Much to Read Into This
The underlying reporting comes from a single source, Gurman at Bloomberg, and has been relayed widely rather than independently confirmed. His track record on Apple product timing is strong, but a date is not an invitation until Apple sends one. Treat October 13 as a well-sourced expectation, not a commitment. Treat every hub specification above as reported rather than final.
