Yesterday, Mark Gurman from Bloomberg reported that Apple is planning to revamp the interior layout of its brick-and-mortar stores this fall in anticipation of the wide, major launch of its smart home products. As you may know, Apple has been planning to update both the Apple TV and the HomePod mini this coming fall. As a matter of fact, Gurman even claimed that those products have been ready for quite a while, so it’s more than likely that Apple has been holding off on those products before the company officially launches its next release of platforms (version 27) that will introduce the vastly improved Siri AI.
According to the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, staff members in charge of the Apple Store layouts are preparing to modernize the “Avenues,” which are known as the perimeter walls in Apple’s more recent stores, where they have both smart home accessories and third-party ones on display, including the HomePod, Apple TV, AirPods, and Beats. The goal of the overhaul is to have a dedicated, wider space to make room for the anticipated “HomePad”, or Apple’s smart home hub with a built-in rumored 7-inch display, and to showcase the said product for customers to try it out and potentially have a demo. We reported last week that code from the macOS 26.7 release candidate suggested that the HomePad would run an entirely new operating system based on tvOS, and it will also feature “Faces” and smart stacks that will largely resemble a “giant Apple Watch” in terms of the overall user experience. It’s expected to come in two variants: either a tabletop base or wall-mounted.
For the upcoming Apple TV, it’s expected to feature the A17 Pro chip to support the new Siri AI as well as an updated remote. The HomePod mini is also expected to feature the S9 chip, improved sound, and a red finish as one of the color options.
Gurman expects Apple’s upcoming HomePod to make its debut as soon as October, potentially alongside the new Apple TV and the HomePod mini.
