Apple may merge iPad, Apple TV with HomePod to create a new smart home product line

While all the speculations are hitting the web around iPhone 13, Mini LED iPads, AR/VR glasses and redesigned iMacs, a new report by Bloomberg talks about completely new products for the smart home space. The tech giant is reportedly working on a new product line and one of the devices in it includes a combination of Apple TV set-top box and a HomePod speaker along with a camera for video conferencing.

Also mentioned were other features of the product like watching video and gaming along with speaker uses like playing music and using Siri. It is worth adding that this might also be one of the most powerful smart home devices by Apple upon launch. Until now, the firm has launched just standalone devices like HomePod speakers or Apple TV set top box but it has never launched a mix of multiple products and form factors.

Also read: Apple to launch first-ever iPads with Mini-LED display tech later this month: Report

In addition to this, the firm is working on a high-end speaker that will also have a touch screen. This is supposed to compete with other popular rivals like Google’s Nest and Amazon’s Echo. This product is said to be a combination of an iPad with a HomePod speaker. It may also feature a camera for video chats. For now, the iPhone maker is said to have tried attaching an iPad to the speaker using a robotic arm that can follow the user around the room.

But nonetheless, the development of both these products are in early stages. So, it is unclear if these will see the light of the day or not.

Apple seems to be already working on merging two different product lines. As mentioned in the report, the firm combined its Apple TV and HomePod engineering teams last year and merged the software that runs on both. A speaker with a TV set top box is a line that Google and Amazon haven’t explored yet.