Apple could be planning to use the iPad mini as a HomePod display
Another smart display rumor
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Considering the amount of rumors and leaks we’ve seen about it, it seems likely thatAppleis thinking about launching a smart display based on theHomePod speaker– and that display could well end up being aniPad mini.
The team at9to5Machas been digging into the code for tvOS 17.2 beta, and found something rather interesting: the software has been updated to add support for theiPad mini 6that Apple launched back in 2021.
Bearing in mind that the HomePod and theHomePod minirun 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 appearingfor more than a yearnow, 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’vealso seenwhat 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 rumorsfrom the start of the yearare to be believed, smart home functions would be front and center.
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Apple may take the approach used by theGoogle Pixel Tabletand its dock, and make a smart display that you can dock to a speaker or carry around with you; or, it could copy theAmazon Echo Show 10with a display that can rotate. Time will tell.
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Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.
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