Apple Retail Stores Rearranging for a Wave of New Home Products

Summary

Apple retail stores are being reorganized ahead of a fall wave of home hardware, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The changes focus on the “Avenues,” the perimeter wall sections in Apple’s newer stores where HomePod, Apple TV, AirPods, and Beats currently live. Teams are adding new accessory bays and rearranging product sections, and Gurman says the scale of the work points specifically to the launch of Apple’s long-rumored smart home hub with a display. That product, referred to as the HomePad in coverage, is expected to feature a 7-inch square screen, a choice of tabletop base or wall mount, an all-new OS built on tvOS, and a Widget Gallery interface populated automatically from a linked iPhone. It is targeted to arrive sometime between October and early 2027. Also confirmed incoming: an updated Apple TV with a faster chip capable of handling Siri AI, and a refreshed HomePod mini with an S9-series chip, improved audio, and reportedly a new red colorway. The current HomePod mini is now over 2,000 days old.

Why it matters

Apple’s home hardware lineup has been sitting still for years. The current Apple TV runs an A15 chip from 2021. The HomePod mini launched in late 2020. Neither device is equipped for the Siri AI experience Apple is building across its ecosystem. The HomePad would be an entirely new product category for Apple, a smart display hub competing directly with Amazon Echo Show and Google Nest Hub, but with deeper iPhone and HomeKit integration than either. If any of this is on your radar for purchase, the MacRumors Buyer’s Guide already lists both the Apple TV and the HomePod mini as “Don’t Buy” in light of this news. The time to wait is now.

HTD Says

Apple is rearranging its retail stores for a new batch of home products this fall, and if you have been considering a HomePod mini, an Apple TV, or a smart home display hub (the “HomePad” – not sure if that will be the name that sticks), the next few months are going to give you a lot of options to look at before pulling the trigger.

Apple Stores have always been known for their very open, airy feel. They are bright, somewhat sparse, with tables and products in the center, and walls lined with cases and accessories. If Apple is indeed bringing new products and refreshing others, it may need to rethink how it displays them.

Tables with iPhones, iPads, Watches, and even laptops do ok, but if there will be speakers and smart home displays and other integrated solutions, I think it would be smart to almost have some sort of a scenarios or common use case type of setup, showing how all the products work together.

Source:

MacRumors