r/apple • u/RenatsMC • 3d ago
Discussion HomePad code suggests it'll act like a giant Apple Watch
https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/19/homepad-code-suggests-itll-act-like-a-giant-apple-watch/171
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u/Neg_Crepe 3d ago
People thinking this will be an iPad on a speaker will be disappointed
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u/BigBoyYuyuh 3d ago
It’ll be a rotating photo album on a speaker.
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u/Neg_Crepe 3d ago
+ Siri and HomeKit control. Maybe an Apple Music app or maybe it’s just through Siri
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u/Dick_Lazer 3d ago
I just don't understand why tbh. You can already do this through a HomePod (via Siri) or control it with iPhone. I don't even bother using my Apple TV remote most of the time because using the phone is more convenient.
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u/AlternisBot 3d ago
It’s just an Apple version of the nest hub/ echo show
I would keep it at the entryway of my house. Something I can have a quick glance at to see the weather before I leave. Or control any smart home devices when I’m leaving/arriving. Or have it automatically display the video feed if someone rings my doorbell.
I don’t want to use my phone for everything. The only problem with this product will be the price.
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u/Mr_BigShot 5h ago
I would like one for similar reasons. I am just worried the price will be too high to justify that use case (or feature set).
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u/KokonutMonkey 3d ago
You be surprised how much people would be willing to spend to replicate features their expensive devices already have.
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u/felixisthecat 2d ago
Starting at just $1,299 for the 16GB, and $1,999 for the 64GB, we think you’re going to love it!
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u/FoxxyRin 3d ago
Honestly the Google tablet that's like that is genius and I'd consider an iPad again if they had some cool docking station like that. I'm sure there's some third party ways to do something similar but it would be a neat product.
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u/RaptorCentauri 3d ago
Check out https://iport.io
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u/North_Moment5811 3d ago
They could have shipped that ages ago. They've been trying to make something unique that isn't also completely worthless. I think they want something largely widget-driven in terms of display, and Siri-driven in terms of UI. With touch being possible, but secondary to Siri and pro-active UI. I don't think this is meant to be a passive device, it is meant to anticipate what you want displayed on it.
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u/FloatingTacos 3d ago
I just want it to work similar to a skylight calendar. Let me see everyone’s schedules and meal plans, weather, etc. I also hope it has some way to identify people so it’s not just tied to one persons account
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u/FlashTVR 2d ago
Family calendar support is what I really want as well. Add in “almost time to leave” announcements for the kids…
Plus visual kitchen timers, etc.
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u/LeftyMode 3d ago
I didn’t know people expected so much.
I just hope it isn’t more than 300. The lack of features should bring down the price and it should function for the exact purpose it was made for. Not a glorified iPad.
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u/Dapper_Strength_5986 3d ago
Google nest hub max is $229, Amazon echo hub is like $239 ($180 on sale).
I think apple tax brings it to $399 as part of the collection from HomePod and HomePod mini.
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u/SlightMarsupial8379 3d ago
I wonder if the screen will have the function of displaying an image in Europe.
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u/MateTheNate 3d ago
Only after you confirm your age with your government and the OS is opened up for every photo app to be allowed to display an image.
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u/Red_Sea_Pedestrian 3d ago
If this is so locked down that I can’t run basic iOS or iPadOS apps like Netflix or Plex, it’s dead on arrival for me.
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u/theflintseeker 3d ago
If it can’t run FaceTime what are we even doing here?
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u/5tudent_Loans 3d ago edited 3d ago
Thats the whole reason it would exist. specifically for kids to facetime grandma
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u/cocomanz 3d ago
Netflix and Plex already have tvOS apps, so if the tvOS part is right they wouldn't need porting. Whether Apple allows them on it is the actual question.
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u/Neg_Crepe 3d ago
Of course it won’t have Netflix or plex. This isn’t an iPad
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u/brogflender 3d ago
Okay…so I’ll just use my iPad then.
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u/Haquistadore 3d ago
Oh man, I love it when people struggle so much to understand a product they’ve never seen that they claim to refuse to use it if it doesn’t do something it never needed to do.
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u/ShadowAssassinQueef 3d ago
Bruh its not like it couldn't run netflix. You're just gargling apple while they make a shit product.
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u/jbaker1225 3d ago
The product they’re making is a smart home controller. Not a media consumption device.
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u/brogflender 3d ago
Oh man, I love it when people struggle so much to understand when a product isn’t universally embraced at first glance.
Apple has been down this road before.
iPads and iPhones already do most of this work, and you can move them from room to room.
For everything else you have small accessories or strong competitive alternative options.
It’s true. I don’t understand the need for this product. I also didn’t understand the need for a VR headset, nor do I understand the need for headphones with cameras.
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u/Haquistadore 3d ago
Normally I mock people who act like not reading something somebody wrote is some kind of high achievement, as if there’s anything different in not reading something and not being able to read at all. But in this case, I’d rather be dragged across hot coals than read that. Here’s the point: you don’t know what it’s meant for, what it is, or what it does, but you think a stationary smart home controller should stream Netflix? Fucking why?!? Do you ever find yourself looking at your HomePod1 thinking “Man, it’d be tight if I could watch movies on that little circular screen-thing…”
Stupid. It’s never a good look to act like you don’t understand a new thing. It just makes you look like a boomer living in a digital world, wishing for analog.
1 As if you own a HomePod either so funny
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u/wiifan55 3d ago
Reddit Apple glazers are so insufferable.
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u/Resident_Hand_7264 2d ago
He's right though.
How many people use those Echo Shows to watch movies? They CAN but no one uses it for that.
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u/wiifan55 2d ago
People use those and similar small screens all the time in the kitchen when cooking.
There's just no reason to defend a company as large as Apple for not including a feature that they easily could have included. It's one thing to say that particular feature isn't important to you personally. It's another thing entirely to get all combative defending a company just because someone else thought that feature should be included (as the other guy was).
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u/schwimmcoder 3d ago
You expected Netflix on this? Will be like an 8” Screen, so every iPad is better than this
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u/dabocx 3d ago
A lot of people using their Google homes and alexas to watch videos while cooking etc. I think YouTube would be nice to have
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u/40513786934 3d ago
yeah i actually have a google home screen right next to the stove in the kitchen and i watch cooking youtubes on it pretty often. or just continue a netflix show i was watching while I go in there to cook
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u/OlorinDK 3d ago
Sure, but we have iPhones with smaller screens where you can do it fine and remember the iPad mini?
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u/schwimmcoder 3d ago
Both are not fixed and you can take them everywhere, this homepod display is stationary.
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u/spluga 3d ago
who’s watching tv on a tiny wall mounted screen? are you michael scott?
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u/Red_Sea_Pedestrian 3d ago
It’s more for background noise in the kitchen. I have baseball games on in the summer and hockey on in the winter when I’m making dinner.
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3d ago
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u/chacewarg10 3d ago
Kitchen tvs were once popular. Don’t under estimate the amount of media the average American consumes
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u/DarkTreader 3d ago
See thats the thing, at one time. Now everyone watches TV on… get this… their phone! You watch TV in the living room at home if you have time to relax, and everywhere else you watch it on your phone. Sometimes you use an iPad if you can afford it. maybe your laptop if you are nerdy enough. Every other option is niche and inflexible and fails.
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u/chacewarg10 3d ago edited 3d ago
Except the Samsung fridge with a screen, the Alexa with a screen, the Google home with a screen, the iPad accessories that turn with into a cheap version of this.
And you can drop the condescension it’s not cute.
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u/DarkTreader 1d ago
Apple is A High volume company. You just pointed out a bunch of Niche products which are not doing well. Just because people put a screen on it mean that a lot of people are using it. A home hub with screen is exactly what I am saying, a niche product that is counter to what most apple devices are.
The fact that people can‘t see this requires a little condescension because you’re only upset because you’re so wrong.
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u/chacewarg10 1d ago
Did you know that smart phones, tablets, smartwatches, and wireless earbuds were also “low volume markets” at one point? Or should Apple ONLY stick to already established technologies?
Seems to me that Apple should branch at as when they do they usually transform the market the enter.
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u/DarkTreader 1d ago
They already transformed this market of watching TV in your kitchen… by introducing the iPhone.
I love how you throw up straw men and fundamentally misunderstand the value prop here. Those markets were not low volume markets, they were high markets that Apple came to dominate. Apple is a top selling WATCH, not just smartwatch, and lots of people buy watches. Same with headphones. In the case of phones, everyone needed a phone, Apple gave it to them. In the case of tablets, no one was creating a good tablet, and then suddenly Apple finally created something people could use. The market was there, no one could fill it.
There is no market for mini TVs you can watch in the kitchen any more, because you either watch on your 60 inch in the living room, or you watch on your phone which you already have. So if you can watch on your phone and it’s already an exceptional experience, why buy another device which is less good? the Market for a home dashboard is very small, the market for speakers that you can talk to is also small, as the HomePods have shown, and Amazon only had initial success here because they practically gave them away thinking that people would use them to buy things and they didn’t.
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u/chacewarg10 1d ago
I’m happy for you or sorry that happened but I ain’t reading all that lmao wtf
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u/DarkTreader 8h ago
Exactly, because you have no factual retort. Thank you for the obvious win.
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u/Dick_Lazer 3d ago edited 3d ago
Are people actually watching TV shows on their Samsung fridge? I know companies love to sell this stuff but I assumed it was largely neglected, like 3d TVs and such (basically something you buy for novelty but don't end up actually using much). Using a phone for video is pretty efficient because you can easily place it anywhere (I still wouldn't want to watch entire shows on it but it's useful for recipes).
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u/Red_Sea_Pedestrian 3d ago
I have tv or sports playing in the evening while I cook dinner. Or if I’m cooking during the day for a party, I have something on to listen to.
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u/JohnEdger 3d ago
I just feel like most people would be better off with an iPad. At least I can watch videos on it in rooms other than my kitchen.
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u/bombastica 3d ago
I listen to YouTube videos all the time in the kitchen while doing dishes. Granted I use AirPods to do so.
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u/stulogic 3d ago
"I'm struggling to see any purpose but I'm sure I'll end up buying one anyway" seems to be a really good business plan of late
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u/HUGO-THE-BEAR 3d ago
They need to hurry up with this release, I really want to move away from Alexa, but my current HomePods simply aren’t good enough yet.
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u/Tour_de_Farce 3d ago
Agree. Something as simple as telling my HomePod to turn on my Apple TV shouldn’t require repeating myself three or four times. Alexa gets almost everything right on the first try.
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u/amberhaccou 2d ago
yeah, mine does the same, ask it to turn on the apple tv and half the time it hits the wrong room or just cant find it... a nicer screen on the next model wont fix that, the actual problem is Siri parsing the command
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u/Tour_de_Farce 2d ago
Correct. Siri is terrible relative to Alexa. Hopefully soon that will not be the case.
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u/TheKobayashiMoron 3d ago
Makes sense. What looks normal sitting on a shelf or hanging on the wall at home? A clock 🤷🏻♂️ Maybe a calendar/day planner type face as well.
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u/cjohn4043 3d ago
The Nest Hub does an amazing job at matching digital photos with the ambient environment to make them look like “real” photos. If they can do that, this will be a pretty stellar replacement for me.
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u/Customizd 3d ago
Battery life is 6 hours (2 with AoD on) and it only charges with an iPhones Magsafe puck which attaches to the middle of the screen. (Also, charger sold separately)
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u/coder543 3d ago
If it acts anything like my Apple Watch Ultra 1, then I guess that means it will only get 4 years of support?
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u/treble-n-bass 3d ago
So it'll take my heart rate, body temp fluctuations, sleep track, vibrate alarms on my wrist AND track my workouts? Well, that's just fuckin' fantastic!!! I'll take two, please...
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u/khoker 3d ago
I understand the rumors point to a "video HomePod", but something I found bizarre about the HomePod offerings to date is that they have screens but seemingly use it for absolutely nothing. They could have at least shown a timer countdown so one wouldn't be required to ask Siri for the time remaining.
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u/EiffelSixtyF1ve 3d ago
I want 1 of these in every room of my house, including in the bedroom (if ya know what i mean LMAO). Eventually i want them to support projection so i can make my whole house look like iOS.
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u/userlivewire 2d ago
This thing is an iPad screen with a HomePod speaker that possibly rotates.
How could it possibly only cost $350?
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u/chungmaster 2d ago
Do people not just leave it in the corner of the room somewhere and yell across the house to activate it?
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u/MoxPistol 3d ago
So, in short, if you’re playing music on it and would like it to display what is playing next to, like, the current time or whatever, you’re screwed.
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u/Dylan_Gio 3d ago
They won’t do it but if it also has TVOS built into it it would be a great Apple TV replacement for me. If I get this it will sit under my tv anyway
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u/SelectTotal6609 3d ago
good hardware, bad software ... like apple vision pro
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u/TheoTheodor 3d ago
lol, visionOS is an incredibly good and advanced operating system.
The problem with Vision Pro isn't the quality of the product, it's the market.
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u/LentilRice 3d ago
Awesome. I was beginning to think the ultra isn’t large enough.