Subj : Apple could be planning to use the iPad mini as a HomePod display
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Sat Oct 28 2023 09:45:06

Apple could be planning to use the iPad mini as a HomePod display

Date:
Sat, 28 Oct 2023 08:30:14 +0000

Description:
It seems that Apple has got tvOS 17.2 running on an iPad mini 6, which 
suggests it could become a smart display.

FULL STORY
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Considering the amount of rumors and leaks we've seen about it, it seems 
likely that Apple is thinking about launching a smart display based on the 
HomePod speaker  and that display could well end up being an iPad mini . 

The team at 9to5Mac has been digging into the code for tvOS 17.2 beta, and 
found something rather interesting: the software has been updated to add 
support for the iPad mini 6 that Apple launched back in 2021. 

Bearing in mind that the HomePod and the HomePod mini run on a modified 
version of tvOS, it's then fair to make the assumption that Apple wants to 
explore the idea of launching a HomePod smart display with a decent-sized 
screen attached. 

What adds even more credence to the idea is that rumors about a 
HomePod-plus-iPad have been appearing for more than a year now, and have come 
from some of the most reliable Apple tipsters in the business. Form factors 

At this stage it's worth remembering that even if Apple is testing out the 
iPad mini as a HomePod attachment, there's no guarantee that we'll end up 
with an actual product along these lines  company plans and market conditions 
change all the time. 

In recent days we've also seen what is apparently a prototype HomePod with a 
small integrated display on the top. It's possible that Apple is 
experimenting with more than one different form factor for the upcoming smart 
display. 

It does make sense that tvOS would be the software running on this smart 
display, as it's already used on the HomePod. If rumors from the start of the 
year are to be believed, smart home functions would be front and center. 

Apple may take the approach used by the Google Pixel Tablet and its dock, and 
make a smart display that you can dock to a speaker or carry around with you; 
or, it could copy the Amazon Echo Show 10 with a display that can rotate. 
Time will tell. You might also like Apple's Scary Fast event could spell the 
end of its Lightning port What to expect from Apple's upcoming October event 
Siri may have leaked Apple's plans for a HomePod with a screen



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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/home/smart-speakers/apple-could-be-planning-to-use-t
he-ipad-mini-as-a-homepod-display


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