Kuo: New HomePod With Smart Home Display Arriving in Late 2025
Apple's long-rumored HomePod with a display has been delayed again and is now expected to launch after WWDC 2025, likely in the third quarter of the year, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. This timeline is a shift from Kuo's earlier prediction of a 2024 release.
MacRumors concept render
The new smart speaker is expected to feature Apple's A18 processor and a 6-7 inch display, with support for Apple Intelligence, says the analyst. According to Kuo, the delay is primarily attributed to software development challenges, rather than hardware issues.
There have been rumors about a HomePod with a display since 2021, and Apple actually seems to have several products in the works. Kuo's latest report harks back to previous predictions from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who suggested Apple was developing several HomePod variants with screens, including one with an iPad-like display and another featuring a screen mounted on a robotic arm. Gurman had indicated these devices were unlikely to launch before 2025.
The new HomePod will reportedly emphasize smart home functionality more than current models, suggesting a strategic repositioning of the product line. The idea that Apple is targeting the smart home market follows a recent report by Gurman about Apple developing an all-in-one home management hub with a square-shaped display, thick bezels, and a hemispherical base similar to the iMac G4.
Tianma Microelectronics will be the exclusive panel supplier for the display-equipped HomePod, while BYD Electronics will be the exclusive assembler, according to Kuo. Initial shipment expectations for the new HomePod are relatively modest, with analyst forecasting approximately 500,000 units in the second half of 2025. He also maintains his previous prediction that Apple will launch a compatible smart home IP camera in 2026 that is designed to work wirelessly with the display-equipped HomePod.
Popular Stories
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec).
The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps.
More features and changes will follow in future ...
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions.
iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet.
The update will likely be released by the end of next week.
Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year.
The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works.
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings.
iOS 26.4 will...
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more.
With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with an M5 chip, and there are two key storage-related upgrades beyond that chip bump.
First, Apple says the new 14-inch MacBook Pro offers up to 2× faster SSD performance than the equivalent previous-generation model, so read and write speeds should get a significant boost. Apple says it is using "the latest storage technology," ...
Apple plans to launch MacBook Air models equipped with the new M5 chip in spring 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is also working on M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models that will come early in the year.
Neither the MacBook Pro models nor the MacBook Air models are expected to get design changes, with Apple focusing on simple chip upgrades. In the case of the MacBook Pro, a m...
The first alleged benchmark result for the M5 chip in the new 14-inch MacBook Pro has surfaced, allowing for some performance comparisons.
Based on a single unconfirmed result uploaded to the Geekbench 6 database today, the M5 chip has pulled off an impressive feat. Specifically, the chip achieved a score of 4,263 for single-core CPU performance, which is the highest single-core score that...
