Apple’s first smart home display is ‘in a warehouse’ until Siri’s big update – report

Late last month it was reported Apple has a new Apple TV and HomePod mini smart speaker ready to go when the long-awaited overhaul to Siri happens. The same reporter has also received word from his sources that a full-sized HomePod speaker and Apple’s first smart home display are also waiting for Siri to grow up.

In a Q&A with readers, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple has four products ready and waiting to hit shelves as soon as Siri receives its long-awaited Google Gemini-powered facelift. He says Apple has been “waiting” for that. Just like the rest of us.

Gurman writes (via 9to5Mac): “New HomePod mini, yes. New Apple TV, yes. New full-sized HomePod, yes. Just a matter of time. They’ve wanted to get the Apple Intelligence and new Siri features working in those products before rolling out the new versions. They could have rolled them out last year, but it’s just about waiting for that, just like they’ve been waiting for the smart home display.”

Gurman goes as far as to say, the so-called HomePad smart displays have been built and packaged and are currently in cold storage until the software that makes them more marketable is ready to go. They have been since the back end of last year.

He adds: “There was a big delay because of the Siri functionality. My understanding is these things are sitting in warehouses, these smart displays. They’re just waiting for that new software to be ready so they can ship those things out.”

It doesn’t appear now like the Siri upgrade – which will include better understanding of personal context, the ability to leverage information from key apps and more effective multitasking – will be with consumers before the launch of iOS 27 and associated Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch updates this September. However, we may see them previewed at WWDC in a couple of months.