Apple reportedly plans an Oct. 13 event to unveil its long-delayed smart-home hub, a new HomePod mini and an updated Apple TV, all three built around Siri AI.
Key Points:
- Apple is reportedly planning an Oct. 13 event for a smart-home hub, a new HomePod mini and an updated Apple TV.
- All three devices are said to center on Siri AI, which entered beta on Sept. 14.
- The hub was reportedly first planned for spring 2025 and slipped while Apple rebuilt Siri.
Apple Event Details
Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman wrote in his Power On newsletter on Sunday that Apple is planning an event for that date to show the three products. He added that Siri AI will sit at the core of each device. Apple has not confirmed the date or the lineup.
His Sept. 30 report had already named Oct. 13 for the same devices and described the hub's iMac G4-style design, but it stopped short of saying the company would stage an event. That gap left Apple watchers guessing for days whether the home products would get a keynote or only a press release.
The hub, code-named J490, reportedly carries a roughly 6-inch square display on a domed base and can recognize household members by voice to show each person their own content. A second version, code-named J491, is designed to mount on a wall. The new HomePod mini and Apple TV are said to keep their current designs and gain faster chips to run Siri AI, with green and pink finishes added for the speaker.
Also Read: Tesla Robotaxis Get An 11 P.M. Cutoff, And Musk Has A Pet Problem To Solve
John Gruber Prediction
The timing fits an earlier forecast.
Longtime Apple commentator John Gruber argued on Sept. 28, two days before the date surfaced, that the company prefers to hand reviewers high-profile products in person, not ship them. Pre-orders for the foldable iPhone Duo open Oct. 16 and deliveries start Oct. 23, so he expected any review units to change hands on Oct. 13 or 14. A media event that week would let Apple do both at once, he wrote.
The hub would be Apple's first smart display, a screen for smart-home controls, FaceTime calls and music in a category where Amazon and Google already compete. Gurman has called the launch a critical product expansion under new CEO John Ternus, and it would follow the iPhone Duo as a second first-generation device in two months.
Siri AI Delays
The hub was reportedly first scheduled for spring 2025 and then for spring 2026, and the unfinished overhaul of Siri, the core of its interface, held it back each time. Apple postponed the launch again in March, to around September, though the hardware had been finished for months, according to reports at the time. Siri AI arrived in beta on Sept. 14 for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro, built on models developed with Google.
Read Next: Robinhood, Binance And Coinbase Now Take Orders From AI Agents: What To Know
