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Tom’s Guide
Tom’s Guide
Technology
Tom Pritchard

Apple's 'HomePad' smart display could offer an ingenious-sounding magnetic wall mount

A rendering of an Apple HomePod with iPad-style touchscreen.

Despite all the rumors we've heard about Apple's upcoming smart display, or "HomePad" as it's been dubbed, Apple still hasn't released anything yet. But that isn't stopping details about what the display might offer from leaking online, with the latest claiming that the HomePad will offer a "magnetic snap-to-wall" feature.This information comes from a leaker and prototype collector known as Kosutami. The leaker claims that "one specific revision of the ongoing prototypes" they've seen will offer the magnetic feature. This suggests that it isn't actually guaranteed, but it is something Apple has been exploring. Though it is something I'd like to see make it to the final design.

After all, being able to magnetically attach the screen to a wall mount, speaker, or maybe even your fridge, would make placing it somewhere convenient that little bit simpler. And less prone to breaking than your typical plastic wall mount. Whether you'd need to use any kind of fixtures for that hypothetical wall mount isn't clear. That's not something we're likely to find out about until the display is actually announced and its design revealed.Other features mentioned include doorbell integration and support for Apple Intelligence. Kosutami doesn't go into any specifics about either of those things, but they don't exactly surprise me. There's little point in offering a smart display that can't connect to a live doorbell feed, especially since Apple is rumored to be developing a Face ID-capable doorbell of its own. Likewise, it's been speculated that the HomePad has only been delayed by as much as it has because it was heavily dependent on Siri's Apple Intelligence upgrade. It's been almost two years since Apple unveiled Apple Intelligence and promised Siri would gain new AI-infused powers, but so far, nothing has come of it. In fact, everything we've heard suggests Apple has had to resort to outsourcing all the AI work to a third party — reportedly Google.Currently, rumors point to Apple's smart display arriving later this year, possibly in the fall. Though I suspect that will also depend on whether Siri AI is ready for the spotlight by then. But we've also been burned by those kinds of promises before, and I will not be getting my hopes up just yet



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