KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 20 — Apple quietly announced a range of new devices this week, including the MacBook Pro, Mac Mini and HomePod. And it’s not over yet – the company is clearly aiming to expand its range of smart devices beyond the HomePod and HomePod Mini, with similar products from Google and Amazon.
The first of these products will be a smart display, which will compete with Google Nest Hub, Nest Hub Max and Amazon Echo Show, according to Bloomberg analyst Marc Garman. It’s essentially a dumbed-down iPad with a home app that can control lights and other smart home devices, play videos, and handle FaceTime video calls.
Unlike the Nest Hub, which attaches to the speaker at the bottom and is designed to rest on a horizontal surface, Apple’s version can reportedly be attached to walls and other surfaces using magnetic clasps. Cupertino is also said to delight in the possibility of making a larger display, as well as a stand for an iPad meant for home use.
Other new products include the all-new Apple TV, last updated in October. It’s scheduled for release in early 2024 and will have a faster chip, but it’s unlikely to support 8K streaming. Exactly the same problem that Dzamira pointed out in his review of the latest model.
An upgraded version of the Apple TV — apparently incorporating a speaker and FaceTime camera — is still in development. However, the project ran into issues that delayed its release, which was originally scheduled for later this year.
Having a variety of smart devices is great, but it doesn’t address Apple’s biggest flaw in this area: Siri still lags behind Google Assistant when it comes to implementing voice recognition and certain features. Thankfully changes are coming, but there are no details on what the improvements will be or a timeline for implementation.
