A screen-equipped HomePod has been reportedly delayed until 2024

As Apple scrambles to contain costs in the challenging economy, the company has reportedly delayed its rumored HomePod with a built-in screen until 2024.

A black Apple HomePod wireless speaker laying on a table in front of a TV set which displays an Apple TV home screen
Will Apple release any new HomePods in 2023? | Image: Howard Bouchevereau / Unsplash
  • What’s happening? Some 2023 projects at Apple, including a HomePod with a built-in screen, have reportedly been pushed back until 2024.
  • Why care? Sorry, no new HomePods for your this year.
  • What to do? Read the source article on Bloomberg.

A screen-equipped HomePod coming in 2024

Apple is cutting costs across the company, including its research and development division. In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter on Bloomberg, reporter Mark Gurman has learned that the Cupertino giant is “pulling every lever” amid companywide cost cuts, including postponing nonessential projects such as its rumored HomePod speaker with an integrated touchscreen.

Here’s an excerpt from the report:

Some projects, including new home devices like a HomePod with a screen, have been pushed back until next year at the earliest. That allows Apple to allocate its research and development budget to more pressing projects.

He doesn’t mention how the device might utilize an integrated display.

How a HomePod with a display might work

The HomePod and HomePod mini have circular displays on the top with simple LED lights (not actual bitmap screens) providing useful status information.

If we were speculating, we’d say adding a touchscreen would increase the HomePod’s utility and turn the speaker into a fantastic smart home controller.

Truth be told, we’ve never expected a screen-equipped HomePod to arrive in 2023.

HomePods with screens, cameras and robotic arms

A conceptual rendering depicting an Apple-branded soundbar providing some of the features of the Apple TV and HomePod, with a built-in display
A concept imagining a HomePod with a screen Credit: Philip Goolkasian / Behance

Well-respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently said he expected a redesigned HomePod with a 7-inch display to ship in 2024. “The HomePod, which equips a panel, could enable tighter integration with Apple’s other hardware products, marking a significant shift in the company’s smart home strategy,” Kuo said.

Gurman has now corroborated this information with his sources.

To Gurman’s credit, he has been saying for years that Apple is developing new ‌HomePod‌ models with built-in displays and cameras, similar to Google’s Nest Hub and Amazon’s Echo Show speakers with displays. In March 2021, for example, he said new speakers with screens and cameras were being developed in Apple’s labs but warned the launch was not imminent t.

The following month, Gurman ran a report saying Apple would combine a HomePod speaker with an iPad mounted on a robotic arm so the device could follow the user around the room during video calls. And in April 2022, Gurman learned that a future screen-equipped HomePod would combine HomePod and Apple TV functionality and be equipped with a FaceTime camera.