Since last year there has been quite a bit of talk going around about an Apple smart display or smart home hub with a robotic arm, as well as a more affordable version without the robot arm. The latter, codenamed J490, was initially said to be releasing sometime this year, but it looks like it is being delayed, due to a key feature that it was supposed to get also getting delayed.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says as part of the weekly Power On newsletter that the aforementioned Apple product was initially planned for release sometime this month. Unfortunately, the product relies to some degree on features that come with the SIri upgrade that has also been announced as being delayed. Because of this, the launch of the J490 has also been postponed. An exact date was not mentioned, but it will likely be unveiled around the time when said Siri upgrades go live.
On the flip side, the newsletter mentions that select Apple staffers have been allowed to take the smart hub back home to provide “frequent feedback”. This is as part of an internal testing program for the product, likely so that it gets continuous improvements while waiting out the delay.
Beyond having Apple Intelligence and the AI-related Siri upgrades as core features, the smart display has had conflicting reporting as to what sort of software it would run. Earlier reports mention that it will sport a modified version of iPadOS, while others note that it will be a running homeOS, which is based off of tvOS.
(Source: Bloomberg)
