Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reports that Apple is refreshing its retail stores this fall as they prepare for the release of the company’s new home products.
Gurman’s claims came in his latest Power On newsletter. Gurman says the teams responsible for store layouts are preparing changes to the “Avenues,” or the perimeter walls in Apple’s newer stores, where accessories like HomePod, Apple TV, AirPods, and Beats are displayed alongside third-party accessories.
The company is clearly gearing up for major new home products this year, with teams responsible for organizing its retail store layouts getting ready to make room for fresh devices. Newer stores have sections called Avenues — walls around the perimeter that showcase the company’s accessories, like HomePods, Apple TVs, AirPods and Beats products, alongside third-party offerings.Apple is preparing significant changes to those sections this fall, including rearranging parts of the Avenues and adding accessory bays to showcase new products. The company is already planning an upgraded Apple TV set-top box and a new HomePod mini for this time frame. But the scale of the retail changes suggests something else is coming: the long-anticipated home hub with a display. The planned modifications appear too extensive to be solely about routine updates to existing products.
Apple is believed to have an upgraded Apple TV and a new HomePod mini on the way. Gurman said in July that both were nearly ready. Boith are expected to boast faster chips for Siri AI but no major design changes otherwise. Rumors indicate an A17 Pro chip or better in the new Apple TV, and an S9-series chip, improved sound, and a red finish for the HomePod mini.
Gurman says the scale of the retail changes suggests prep-work for the launch of its long-awaited home hub with a display (the much-rumored HomePod with Display or “HomePad”).
Gurman reported last month that the smart home hub will arrive at some point between October and early next year. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said in July that the new hub device is built around the new Siri AI assistant, and is designed to be placed in rooms throughout a user’s home, and will be available in both tabletop and wall-mounted versions.
The first version, known internally as J490, positions the screen on a half-dome-shaped base that looks similar to a HomePod mini cut in half. The other, code-named J491, is designed to be affixed to a wall using a new magnetic system.
The hub will basically be a combination of a 7-inch display on a HomePod-like speaker. Gurman also says the device’s operating system is an entirely new one, based on the Apple TV’s tvOS platform. The interface is described as a cross between tvOS, watchOS, and iOS. The screens will sport icons, widgets, and apps, as well as customizable clock faces.
Built-in facial recognition allows the hub to identify who is looking at the display resulting in personalized information. As a user approaches the hub, or moves away from it, the size of the interface elements will change.
Other features include FaceTime videoconferencing, home security monitoring and an intercom system for households with multiple Apple home devices. The new hubs will reportedly boast a Widget Gallery, allowing users to customize the content they want to see on the device’s home screen.
Gurman reports that “today’s store layouts aren’t particularly well suited to demonstrating such a product, meaning Apple will need dedicated space where shoppers can see how the hub works, what it controls, and how it fits into the broader home ecosystem.”
