Apple to launch entirely new kind of iPad for people’s homes, report claims
Smart display will control the smart home, and serve as a rival to those offered by Google and Amazon
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Your support makes all the difference.Apple is planning to make an entirely new kind of iPad, aimed at living around people’s homes, according to a new report.
The new device would be a “essentially a low-end iPad”, according to reputable Apple leaker Mark Gurman, and be part of a major push into the smart home by the company.
Apple has long looked to be part of people’s smart homes, with a range of technologies of its own: the HomePod smart speaker, for instance, and the Home app that can be used to control various devices.
But the category has mostly been dominated by Google and Amazon, which offer their own smart assistants at lower prices and with support for a range of devices.
Apple is now looking for ways to grab more of that market share, with a range of new smart displays that can be positioned around the house.
The home version of the iPad will be the first of those, Mr Gurman reported. It could be used for controlling the smart home devices as well as for features such as video calls, he suggested.
It will be sold with a magnetic mount, so that it can be attached to the wall and left there as a smart display, rather than being taken around in the same way as the iPads the company already sells.
That could be followed by other, larger smart displays, he also reported. Both Amazon and Google sell smaller and larger versions of their smart displays – running from those intended to be used like alarm clocks to others that are more like small televisions.
The report comes shortly after Apple relaunched the larger HomePod, after it was discontinued in 2021. The new version includes a range of new smart home features, including support for new standards and temperature and humidity sensors that can be used to activate other devices.
The new plans could also come with updates to Siri to make it more useful around the home, Mr Gurman reported.
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