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A six-inch hub, a new HomePod mini, a new Apple TV. All three built for Siri AI. October 13, according to Gurman. Apple has not confirmed the day.
The object that does not exist yet is the one with the screen. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple will reveal a smart home hub on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, beside a new HomePod mini and an upgraded Apple TV. All three are described as hardware for Siri AI, the rebuilt assistant. The hub is the new category. Gurman has put a roughly 6-inch display on it, wall or counter, about as thick as an iPhone, with bezels closer to older iPads than to a current edge-to-edge slab. Outlets have tagged the internal name J490 and the nickname HomePad. Neither is an Apple product name.
Signal. What happened: Gurman reported an October 13 reveal for a screen hub, a refreshed HomePod mini, and a new Apple TV, all tied to Siri AI. Exact object: unannounced. Reported hub is a 6-inch square display, countertop and wall versions, iPhone-thick. When and where: Tuesday 13 October, method of reveal not stated. Source: Bloomberg via MacRumors and The Verge, 30 September 2026. Why it matters: Apple’s home line has waited on the assistant. The speaker and the box are refreshes. The screen is the new room. HTML
flow
Apple already sells a speaker and a set-top. It does not sell a home tablet that lives on a counter. That gap is old. Echo Show and Nest Hub filled kitchens years ago. Apple’s answer, in the reporting, has been stuck behind the assistant.
Gurman and the outlets relaying him say the three products were aimed at 2024. Each slip was pinned on Siri. Spring 2026 came and went. Siri AI then entered beta on existing devices. With the software dependency cleared, the hardware date moved to mid-October. Apple has not confirmed any of this. A date in a newsletter is a date until the company misses it.
The hub, as described, is smaller than some earlier leaks. About six inches, square. Countertop version on a round metal base, speakers and microphones in the base, an arm that holds the panel and lets it tilt. Wall version with a different mic and speaker layout under the glass. Thickness compared to an iPhone. Bezels compared to older iPads, which is a way of saying the frame is view. Interface notes in the same reporting mix iPad-style apps, Watch-like icons, iPhone widgets, and a clock or photo face. Recipes and video in a kitchen are the use cases written down. None of that is a spec sheet.
A later, higher hub is also in the reporting: a 9-inch panel on a robotic arm that can turn 360 degrees. Not this Tuesday. A privacy camera and sensor that can tell which room a person is in, and does not record video, is a separate project. Not this Tuesday. The larger HomePod is also later.
two
The HomePod mini on the shelf is the 2020 model. First update in six years, if the report holds. Design stays. Chip gets faster so Siri AI can run. New tincture in the note include pink and green. That is the whole pub change list. No driver count, no price.
The Apple TV in the report is the first new set-top since 2022. Shell stays. Faster chip for the same assistant. Some relayed notes mention an A19 or A19 Pro and more memory, plus an updated Siri Remote. Those chip names are a reported range, not a parts list Apple has printed. Price figures floating around $129 for the mini and $199 for the box are earlier guesses. They are not in Gurman’s October 13 flow as a confirmed ticket.
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What the three share is the assistant. A speaker that cannot hear the new Siri is a 2020 object. A television box that cannot run it is a 2022 object. A hub without it is a picture frame. Shipping them together is the point of the date, if the date is real.
when
October 13 is a Tuesday. Apple has not posted an event page. The reporting does not say keynote, press release, or quiet store listing. “Revealed” is the verb in the brief. Availability is a different verb. Some notes put the hub in homes between the end of the year and early next year, with the speaker and the box in the fall. That split matters. A reveal without a ship date is a slide.
extend
Siri’s problem in the home has never been the microphone. It has been the answer. Widgets and a clock face can carry a device that mostly shows the time. The moment someone asks for a timer, a light, a message, the assistant is the product.
fin
Apple’s home story so far is HomeKit, a speaker that sounds better than it answers, and a box that mostly plays television. The hub is the attempt to put a face on the room. Until 13 October, or until the date moves again.
