And so the wait goes on for Apple’s long-rumored HomePod upgrade. We’ve been hearing for years that the nice-sounding but functionally limited smart speaker will soon be redesigned to get a proper display, but it never seems to happen. And now the predicted release date has been pushed back once again.
The respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had previously claimed that a HomePod with a screen would launch at some point in 2024. But the same pundit now believes it won’t arrive until the third quarter of next year, after WWDC 2025.
“The mass production schedule for the display-equipped HomePod has been delayed multiple times,” Kuo writes on Medium. “Initially forecasted for 2024 (as I predicted in 2023), it was postponed to 1Q25, and more recently, further delayed to after WWDC 2025/3Q25.”
The analyst blames software development for the delay in production, although he doesn’t clarify why the software is taking longer than expected to develop. He does note that the device will “emphasize smart home functionalities more” than existing HomePod products, but this was always understood to be the plan; perhaps the challenges are related to Apple Intelligence, which Kuo says will be supported but might not have been part of the plan when the device was expected to launch in 2024.
Apple last updated the HomePod in early 2023 with a surprise second-generation model that didn’t change much other than a getting new chip and losing a couple of microphones. Most notably it isn’t capable of running Apple Intelligence, which we’d expect to be rectified in the next release.
But at this point, as is often the case with tech products that have been delayed multiple times, we have to start wondering if it will ever launch. I’ve written before about my doubts as to whether a screen can fix the HomePod’s problems, and I very much doubt that installing a display and putting up the price is the way to bring a niche product to the mainstream. Apple has certainly been working on a smart speaker with a screen–there’s far too much evidence to doubt it—but I think there’s a decent chance it will think better of the whole thing and move on.