Loading...
Loading...

Hello and welcome to Vergecast, the flagship podcast of the Apple Home Pad.
Hopefully.
I'm Jennifer Patissantoui and on today's show, I'm joined by Andrew O'Hara,
a writer and video producer for Apple Insider and host of The Smart Home Insider Podcast.
With Apple's full hardware event right around the corner,
we're going to talk about the Apple Home hardware rumors and whether the long awaited,
hotly anticipated Apple Home Pad-slash hub-slash smart display will finally make Apple Home great.
Again, we'll rank the top rumors that we think are likely to become reality
and talk about the ones we are most excited to get into our homes.
But first, here's a look at everything that's happening on the Verge today.
I'm David Amel and this is 90 seconds on the Verge for Thursday, September 3, 2026.
Today, OpenAI released GPT-6 Astra, which it says is a generational leap in capability.
With state-of-the-art performance and computer use,
browser use, software engineering, cybersecurity, science, and professional work.
The model was released today to enterprise customers with daybreak access,
but it'll roll out to plus, pro, business, and enterprise users over the coming days.
Hopefully, this model doesn't break containment.
Nvidia has announced it's acquiring AI repository platform Hugging Face for nearly $13 billion.
Nvidia says it will keep Hugging Face an open platform for the entire ecosystem,
and then Nvidia Compute will not be required to build or deploy through the platform.
The last official valuation of the company valued at $4.5 billion,
and the company previously rejected a $500 million investment from Nvidia last year
that would have valued it at $7 billion.
Microsoft is slashing cloud gaming access to just 15 hours a month on Game Pass Ultimate plans.
It previously included unlimited hours, but Microsoft says the change should only impact 4% of users.
It also announced it's releasing a new Pay As You Go option for cloud gaming.
Price and for that has not been announced yet.
You can read more at theverge.com, that's 90 seconds on the verge for Thursday, September 3rd, 2026.
I'm Aina Garten.
On my new podcast Happy Hour with Aina, I'm inviting really interesting guests to join me for a drink
and a fun conversation at my kitchen table in New York City.
I'll be getting personal with chefs, actors, comedians, musicians, and writers I admire.
So grab a snack, pull up a chair, and join us.
Subscribe to Happy Hour with Aina on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
New episodes will be available every Wednesday, starting September 16th.
Say you're an aspiring pop star.
How do you know if your song's a hit?
It's getting harder to tell.
I think that something is going on where the machinery of popularity has changed under a feet,
and we don't really know why or what it means.
This week, unexplained to me, how to avoid being a flop.
Find new episodes, Sundays, wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome, Andrew.
Thanks for joining me.
Really excited to dive into this topic one near and dear to both of our hearts.
One we've talked about a lot in the past.
I know, but this time it feels more real.
Like, it's like things are happening now.
It is. It is. Things are happening.
Apple Home is happening.
Hopefully, fingers crossed.
But just to kind of set the stage for listeners who are not
clued in on the smart home.
Andrew, can you just give me a brief rundown of what Apple Home is?
I mean, Apple really jumped into the smart home space.
It's been more than 10 years now when they first launched HomeKit.
And it was kind of pitched as a very secure version of the smart home,
because in the early days, you had a ton of Amazon devices that were just kind of getting
rubber stamps, certifications that were brought with security issues and things like that.
And Apple came out.
Devices that connect to Amazon.
Yes.
Not necessarily Amazon devices.
And it's a word assistance that we won't say.
But there were so many concerns around stuff like that.
And Apple came out with its own version of the smart home stuff called HomeKit.
And they even had, like at the beginning, you needed a specific hardware chip
that you had to buy from Apple, which not only slowed things down in acquiring these chips,
but then also made things more expensive.
Because you had to buy hardware components from Apple as part of their MFI program.
And it was very secure.
It made all that really nice.
And it has since got a little bit more lenient with that as Apple figured out how to do
much of the same stuff through just software.
But it has grown up so much then.
HomeKit became a large part of the framework for Matter,
you know, the OpenStandard now, including like the pairing process,
an onboarding process, and all of that.
And in kind of today's version of the smart home, it does support Matter alongside
the other major ecosystems, at least to some degree.
You know, there's little bits of inconsistencies there, like with cameras.
For the most part, Apple still kind of sticks with where they were.
There's many more accessories now.
It works similar to the other smart home ecosystems, but privacy, security,
all of that is still very front and center with Apple Home.
I mean, even cameras like until I was 27 and all these launched,
all the AI processing is done locally on your Apple TV or your HomePod,
anything like that.
So they've really put that as kind of their big push in the smart home space.
And as we talk about stuff in, you know, to this episode,
I think that's going to be kind of a common topic.
Big differentiator really from the other major platforms, at least.
But what is the one thing that Apple Home has really been lacking over the years?
I mean, there's been many things.
Well, okay, but the one thing that is very relevant to today,
I know you've been excited for a long time, is a way to control your smart home without using
your phone and without using your voice, right?
So they have been behind in this.
They have not had a smart display.
And this is the thing that has been rumored for like three years now, at least.
And we're honestly surprised they didn't,
this didn't come to the fore sooner because Apple has been really lagging behind Amazon
and Google here who have had smart displays for years at this point.
And I know that from your perspective has been a solely Apple home user,
you've been quite jealous of the Nest hubs and the Echo Shows, right?
Absolutely.
Yeah, what would make it useful to you to have a smart display, do you think?
There's a lot of them.
And obviously, so I've broadened out.
I might be now that matter is much nicer to play with with multiple ecosystems.
I do have a Samsung smart thing set up.
I have like one Amazon thing, but I don't even leave that plugged in.
But it exists here in the house.
And I do have like the, I can't even think of what it's called,
but the Nest Max, the Google smart display, I have one of those as well.
And I really like the displays.
I even have like the UFe E10, which is kind of like, you know,
their version of a smart display.
But I like that kind of just central home point for all of your devices.
An easy way to control things, see your cameras without having,
like you said, to pull out a phone or a tablet.
If you walk into something, I just want to be able to control something,
just make it really easy to gain access to all of those things,
as well as other relevant information.
I think it makes obviously perfect sense,
because we've seen it with other products.
To include your smart home controls,
along with your daily necessities,
like weather, calendar, things like that.
So to combine those things into a similar or a complete form factor
is what I've been wanting.
I want what all of these other ecosystems have had for years.
But with Apple's magic touch on it,
and I think as we talk about some of the rumors,
like Apple has some really cool little tricks that it does
that is going to make this extra compelling to me,
compared to some of the other ones that have been out there for a while.
Yeah, yeah.
Excellent.
Yeah, well, this is, as you can probably tell,
this is the one that we are both most excited about, I think.
We've already ruined the ranking.
I know, I've ruined the ranking.
But in terms of likelihood, I'm on the fence a little bit on this one.
But yes, okay, so we have a Vergecast Ranko-matic
that's going to help us rank the seven Apple Home hardware rumors
in terms of the most likely to be in our homes next week.
And also, and then in terms of which ones,
maybe just be vaporware if they end up in number seven.
So, okay, so I think, let's start with the smartness play,
because that really is, as we said, the one that we're most excited about.
Honestly, this is a really big lift, I think, for Apple.
I think they have to do something really new here.
And the rumors have been kind of all over the place.
I mean, there's been a little consistency,
but there's also just sort of been like,
oh, it's going to have MagSafe.
Oh, it's going to be removable.
It's going to be a home pod with a screen attached to it.
What do you think?
What do you think we're going to get?
And what do you actually want this device to look like?
Basically, what I'm expecting is a seven-inch display.
Based on the lead display, Bloomberg leaks,
it sounds like it's going to be like that seven-inch-size tablet
on top of a half dome size,
so kind of like half a home pod,
or it's going to look like, you know, the iMac G4 back in the day.
But essentially, you know, a little seven-inch tablet on top of a dome.
I think that is very, very likely.
There seems like there's going to be two versions of this.
I could see that happening of it being wall-mountable
versus the other one.
And when they've said rumors about like MagSafe,
that could just be essentially just means magnetic.
I could see them doing some sort of like wall-mount version
that you screw on, and then it just kind of snaps onto your wall
that you could still pull off and charge
or something like that to make it happen.
Yeah.
That's a whole other thing,
but I'm very curious at how Apple may say,
wall-mount work because I cannot imagine Apple
asking people to do any sort of wiring.
Instantly.
It's not going to do that.
So I'm guessing it's going to be probably battery-powered
or with a cable that drags down.
And then we're going to get third-party options
from like Belkin or something that will allow you to do
like an in-wall wiring kit for those who are like extra ambitious
to pull it off.
But I do think it'll be,
roughly seven-inch-size,
there'll be a tabletop version and some sort of wall version of it.
I don't think that we're going to get any sort of app store
at the beginning.
My guess is we're going to get a bunch of the Apple apps,
like Safari, News, Home,
Calendar, Reminders,
all of those,
FaceTime,
yeah, of course,
all of that kind of stuff.
So I can look like an iPad, basically.
But with a different interface.
Yeah, it's going to be some sort of kind of like
an algorithmation of like stand-by mode and Apple TV
is what I'm going to imagine kind of like a combination of those interfaces.
Because we see things like the screensaver interface for Apple TV
that looks like it's destined for this device
with a swipe up and changing them.
Similar with Control Center,
how it just slides over or slides down.
It looks like it would be perfect on something like this.
And it's also this new operating system
is supposedly based on TVOS.
So it would make sense there.
But I don't think we're going to get a full-fledged app store.
But I think that is part of the brilliance of this.
I have been saying this and now this like
latest leak in the Mac OS 26.7 RC
has seemingly confirmed what I've been saying for like a year now.
Which is that Apple is going to take its
widget and live activities interfaces that they brought to the Mac
and put it on this.
That makes sense.
Like you can already put any of your iOS widgets
and live activities from your phone on your Mac.
And it's not running anything on your Mac.
I think it can do the same thing here.
And with that combined with all of the app intents
and interactive widgets that it's been able to do,
you're essentially going to get apps.
But developers would have to do nothing on day one
to more or less make their things work.
And I was looking through all of my stuff recently.
Sonos just launched live activity with complete playback control.
That could show up on your Smartisly.
You could have full Sonos control on this day one.
All of the major smart home brands already have very robust
like control widgets that you could use.
Ufee, Switchbot, Acara, Amazon has one, Google Home has one.
Of course Apple Home.
So all of those to control all of your third party ecosystem things
would be on this.
Counters, every calendar company has their own like fantastic how
Google, Amazon, whatever,
control security systems.
I know I have one for a boat, 80T.
I think all of them have those you could have.
So they wouldn't need to have their own apps on this device.
They wouldn't have to do anything.
And that would make it a lot easier to bring into your home
and set up how you like.
Because it seemed to me that it was most likely to just lock you into
using Apple Home, using Apple Calendar, using FaceTime.
But you're thinking this might give it a little bit more breathing room
to not be so walled garden like.
Widgets are fully interactive now.
So you can actually control stuff.
Right.
And yeah, it could just run off of your phone.
And that rumor said it would show the widgets
but hide personal information until it recognized you
using the built-in camera and facial recognition.
Once it recognized you, then it would show your personal information.
So it would have full multi-user support
like we do on Apple TV technically.
Right. And that's going to be key here.
Because whilst we have that on home pods,
it's a little spotty.
Too many times a day I get
who am I speaking to from my Siri?
Yeah.
I'm like, ah.
So yeah, it'll be that that's something
that Apple really needs to focus on.
And this is the problem that has been what we've had
with using iPads as a home controller,
which is something that people have been doing to date
to try and fill this gap is that they're not multi-user.
And yeah, it's not it's not easy to switch.
And so a visual interaction makes a lot of sense face ID.
You see who is.
You also have a guest mode.
You would assume for people be able to use
and control devices.
I just want something simple.
I want Apple to crack the simple smart home interface.
I don't want to have to deal with tons of little buttons
or taps.
I want to be able to walk towards, say what I want.
And it just appears.
And I can tap like, you know, turn the lights on
and the brightness appears.
And I think I think they've got.
And hopefully there'll be some sort of motion sensing
UWB or something that so it recognizes you
as you approach and adapts the display for you.
Yep, some sort of proximity stuff.
Yep.
Okay, so where do we think this is on the probability scale?
Is this like one or two?
Or are we thinking later this year, maybe three or four?
This has been, I don't know what they're going to do without like
spoiling the rest of our list here.
There's other rumors for things like Apple TV and HomePod
that are perhaps more likely.
So like this would have to be a minimum of three.
But I would say really surprised,
slash confused if Apple introduced like part of it smart home
plan and not the other part.
I know there's like a rumored October events
where we could see this, but it just seems weird.
It's like here's an Apple TV and HomePod,
but not the display.
We're going to wait one month until we show that off.
So I don't know.
I think at a minimum, I'm going to, I'm going to have to say three.
Okay.
I think it's more likely than some of the other stuff.
Well, and that was, so I think that leads us right into the new HomePod
and the new Apple TV, which kind of feel like sure things.
Like the rumors are that they've been ready for ages,
but some things been holding it up.
What might that be, city?
What might that be?
Yeah.
What are we getting with new Apple TV and new HomePod mini here?
So HomePod mini is so long in the tooth.
It's six years old now.
Really old.
So yeah, you got to do this one Apple.
You got to, there's no choice really.
Yeah, 100 would say.
And what, so,
here's okay.
Switching to conspiracy had a little bit.
Part of me wonders when they do this.
Like I wonder if they could do some sort of pairing
with the HomePod and the Smart Display.
Because right now, your HomePod is running off of Apple Watch chips.
Right? Just like the current ones are.
So could they do something like
bring Apple Intelligence and the new version of Siri AI
to this Home Smart Display and then relay the more complicated messages
through this hub and not have to put a, you know,
crazy height like got into A17 Pro in here.
Right.
But then again, also like the new version of Apple Watch does have kind of
Apple Intelligence on it now, you know, with WatchOS 27.
So maybe you'll do that, but we're going to have some
before my Apple Intelligence.
I think it's like a guarantee like Siri AI will be here.
Because right now, Apple's assistant is so inconsistent.
I don't want my HomePod to answer me when I talk to my to Siri.
So I know this is, it drives me nuts.
Trying to add something to the shopping list and it, my phone,
well, and then my homePod and they'll be like competing with each other.
The HomePod can't tell if you're stumbling over your phrases.
The HomePod can't do, you know, almost any of the intelligent stuff
that you can now do on your phone.
And then the TV is a whole separate thing.
It hasn't even more limited set of controls.
We need that unification.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I think that no matter what, this is going to have to have some sort of,
you know, Siri AI.
That's what this has been held up for.
That's going to be your biggest thing.
Other than that, like updated, you know, acoustic, probably second generation,
ultra wide band ship to a pro like handoff experience.
I don't know if they'll do anything.
With like people tracking in the home,
or if that's just like a pinnacle for possible later utilities with things.
But I think like we upgraded chip, I don't know if they'll do it in the end one.
You don't really need Wi-Fi 7 on something like a smart speaker.
But they could throw it in because they just made a whole bunch of those N1 ships
and they just have them lying around.
But other than that, it's probably just going to sound better and have Apple intelligence.
And that's probably key.
That's one of our other top seven is Siri in Apple Home.
Because in case people weren't aware, it's a lot like the whole Google Home Gemini thing
that's going on right now is that the assistant that you use in your home with Apple
is completely different from the assistant you use on your phone.
And this is talking about the new assistant on iOS 27.
I'm currently on the beta for that, public beta for that.
So yeah.
And that is a very frustrating disconnect because your home and your
phone are not separate.
You use the two of them together a lot.
So yeah, we really need that.
And I think actually this may even bump the home smart display to four.
Because I think we're going to have a new Apple TV, a new HomePod Mini,
and a new Siri in September.
Because that lays that foundation, that lays that groundwork for making this Apple Home
shift into new hardware.
I think that's long time coming and pretty to guarantee that we're going to get that.
Apple TV, we've actually had a number of updates recently.
So what do we think is going to be about this one?
Is it just the Siri AI bump or are we going to get anything else?
And maybe more on device, Apple intelligence?
Yeah, I think there's going to be a number of new things with this one.
Now compared to something like the HomePod Mini, because they're definitely not putting in
a 17 pro in there, the new Apple TV I think will have at minimum an a 17 pro to support actual
on device Apple intelligence.
We've seen with the new versions of Apple software, they specifically have these
powerful on device models and some that are limited to the more recent devices.
So I don't know where the lands with Apple TV, because it doesn't need quite as much,
but my guess is a 17 pro processor enabling Apple intelligence.
We will have likely Apple's N1 chip.
I think there were some code references to Apple's N1 networking chip.
So Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and still thread, which is jumping to 1.4 with TV OS 27.
Yay, only one behind.
I know, about time.
So we'll have those.
There was also a late leak that showed we would be getting a new remote.
Bloomberg first said this, and then this was in like that macOS code.
That's exciting.
My husband won't use the Apple TV because he hates the remote.
But I think it's going to look basically the same.
I'm just hoping that they put in find my instead of whatever they have now.
That's the one thing when I was reviewing like the Google TV.
I know the body really likes the streamer.
The button on the back that rings your remote.
So simple, so good.
Apple, do it.
Support for the show comes from Proton VPN.
Ever notice how the second you Google something suddenly every ad you see is about that thing?
Or you try to watch a show while traveling and it's blocked.
Whether you're on the road or just at home, your online activity shouldn't be up for grabs.
Proton VPN adds a layer of protection that keeps your browsing habits private
and your data out of the wrong hands.
They have a strict no logs policy that's independently verified.
It's open source so anyone can inspect how it works.
And it's backed by a foundation focused on protecting user rights,
not selling your data behind the scenes.
So whether you want to watch content from anywhere, get around block sites,
or just keep your activity private on public Wi-Fi,
Proton VPN has you covered.
It's easy to get started.
Right now, Proton VPN is offering our listeners 70% off a two-year plan when you go to Proton VPN.com
slash verge. That's PROTON VPN.com slash verge for 70% off your two-year plan.
That's Proton VPN.com slash verge.
Dear Mr. President, I want things to always be right between us.
I also know I've been distracted all week,
forgetting to eat throughout the days and even forgetting to sleep.
I never want to bring you anything but joy.
I'm sorry I lost my focus.
You are all that matters to me.
I don't ever want to let you down.
Thank you for being my guardian and protector in this life.
I have learned so much about myself on this trip.
For the first time in, I don't know how long,
you forced me to unplug.
I didn't have to be human printer.
Thank you for always being there for me.
To modify a classic,
I could not have parted with you to anyone less worthy.
And I will add, it is I who is unworthy with all my heart, Natalie.
What is going on with Natalie Harp, President Trump's human printer, on today's explain from Vox?
So like any good millennial, I have a love-hate relationship with Gen Z.
It's the phenomenon rattling millennials.
They just look at you.
They want something bigger themselves,
lifestyles, a priority.
Motivation is being inspired.
But regardless of how you feel about Gen Z,
it's undeniable that they're changing national politics.
Generation Z is increasingly showing less loyalty to traditional political parties.
Many now more likely to identify as independent.
So what is going on with the kids?
I think the biggest misconception about Gen Z's politics right now is that all of a sudden,
they're all socialists. That is just not the case.
Yeah, yeah.
They are embracing candidates who are offering new bold ideas
in the absence of those ideas from establishment Democrats.
This week on America actually, Gen Z researcher Rachel Jemfazzo joins us
to separate Gen Z fact versus fiction.
It's not rocket science and this is, you know, I keep saying like,
young voters aren't that complicated after all.
It's pretty simple.
Catch us every Saturday on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast.
Hustle culture told us to grind 24-7 and we would become overnight millionaires and a lot of us believed it.
But this week on Network in Chill, I'm making the case that the grind might actually be making you broke.
Because between the door dash orders and the ubers and the sent out laundry,
the hidden costs of overworking add up faster than you think.
I'm breaking down the real financial toll of burning out
while trading sleep for side hustles is off in the wrong math.
And what Gen Z quietly quitting actually gets right.
Plus, I'm answering your questions, including how to tell if your business ideas actually good,
whether cash out your vacation days or take them,
and how to actually grow your wealth without destroying yourself in the process.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch on youtube.com slash your rich BFF.
This ranked these three that we just went over, which you think is
is a shoe in number one.
HomePod mini Apple TV or better Siri for the home.
We can't do, we can't do better Siri without the other two.
I'm going to go Apple TV as number one, mainly because I want it so much.
So much.
Okay, and then HomePod mini two.
Yes.
New home pods, which I'm not sure about Maxi, probably just Mini.
We may get Maxi later.
Sorry.
Not official naming.
And then Siri in the home, which probably won't have a different name, but
this is the differentiation here is this is the different voice assistant that is
slightly more tailored to the home and to communal use as opposed to just your phone.
Okay, so one, two, three, four we got.
These are all coming this year, I would say.
Fingers crossed.
What do you think Andrew?
Do you agree?
I think so.
I guarantee you.
I'm wondering just if there maybe they'll announce like the smart display,
you know, at the same time as the events, but it won't launch.
You like it's fuzzy with the rumors on terms of like announcement versus availability.
They could announce this thing, let the phones and other tech get bigger highlights and then
launch that this smart display can hit shelves a few weeks later to kind of keep that Apple
PR train rolling to just kind of spread it out.
Yeah.
They could do something like that, even if it doesn't require much dev support.
That would be an awful lot of saying Apple Home in a iPhone keynote.
I mean, I, that would be so excited.
Phone.
We'll see, we'll see.
We'll have to have a verticals game for how many times they say Apple Home in the next event.
Okay, so we have three left that we're going to power through because they're all quite exciting,
but also hugely dubious rumors at this stage.
So we've got a robotic tabletop display and we have a security camera.
So an Apple doorbell and an Apple security camera.
What are you thinking about these three?
I mean, the most, let's start with the security cameras because that kind of leads on from what
we've been talking about.
Like it fits into Apple Home to bring their own first party hardware security cameras.
So maybe an indoor camera and a doorbell camera, but they've never made an Apple Home smart device.
This would be a first.
The home pods don't count.
Apple TVs don't count.
There's a hubs.
They're not devices for running your,
they're not devices that you use in your home like a camera is.
So this would be a big shift.
So how likely do you think these are and which one is more likely?
Would you say if I was putting money on it, I think that the camera,
the security camera, dedicated camera would be more likely than the doorbell.
Just because doorbells can require wiring and that just is very unappled to have to do any install
or have a pro doing any install.
Jay and I know you talk like we talked these doorbell companies and they talk about how they have,
well, you can do a white service option where we should, where someone shows up in your house
and does the install and I don't think Apple is going to want to get close.
So if I'm putting money on the camera is going to be more important because it's plug and play.
And even though there are so many cameras out there, I think this one could be very big for Apple.
Obviously it's competition in Google and Amazon have their own first party cameras that they are
offering and in the world that we are at right now, I think security and privacy are such huge
things. And I think it ties in with the AI stuff and to really do a lot with AI in the home,
you're going to need cameras to be able to do that.
Yeah, the visual information that feeds in, I just wrote a piece about Gemini for home and how
Gemini can take the text descriptions and match that to things that you are doing around the home.
So having that data fed into the home from the cameras gives so much context
to a smart home system that could potentially unlock significant value in the way that your
smart home can maybe be a little bit more autonomous and could potentially sort of help run your
home for you, which is sort of that ambient home goal. But cameras, people don't really,
I don't know, even from Apple, do you feel comfortable? Do you have cameras inside your house,
monitoring you while you're in your home? I just don't see that as something that a lot of people
are going to want to do. So it's a security camera when you know turns on when you leave,
which is something that Apple Home does very well. But you're right, privacy and security are what
Apple is selling here and they've done that very well in the home. And really they only have to beat
Amazon and Google on trust here, which isn't going to be that hard at this stage.
So there are a lot of cameras out there, but there aren't a lot of cameras that people say,
I feel 100% confident putting this inside my home. And I feel like Apple probably has the
Trump card there. What do you think? I think that's absolutely their play because it can
once your home starts reacting or like doing things predictively, it can be creepy. And you want to
have if you're going to have something in it that does that, you're going to need like one that's
most secure and private. We do have cameras in the house because we have so many pets and stuff.
When we leave, we watch them. So like it needs to be, we for sure have to have cameras in the
house, but we don't have them in any of the bedrooms or anything, but at least in like the living room,
dining room, main areas, we do have cameras. And I just think that's Apple's play there to use
that for AI and just really hammer home. All these privacy security things is going to give them
that leg up. But that the home predictive stuff could be two years away from Apple at a minimum
doing anything with it. But it could start just with a basic. That's very optimistic.
It's Apple. They can start super tiny. I mean, technically Apple's been doing AI for how many
years now, just with the little stuff of on device, Core ML, the stuff showing up in control
center, like that is AI, predicting what controls you're going to need before you need it. And it's
just been in control center and it's fantastic. Yeah. Yeah. No, you're right. There are a little
touch is there and we may see more. But I actually think the doorbell camera is makes more sense just
because it is a much more popular device. Like a lot of people want doorbells. How do you think
Apple's going to do with install? Like I know it's just a weird question to hit so much. But how
do you think Apple approaches that? Yeah. I mean, well, there was rumors about it being some kind of
like a MagSafe device. So like, I don't know. But that has to get wired first. Some kind of battery
pack inside. I don't know. I mean, yeah, you go to the inside. Yeah. So that you don't actually have
to wire anything. Although why Apple HomeKit secure video only work with wired doorbells right now.
So their whole infrastructure is around wired cameras. I know there were workarounds.
Well, those workarounds are if you have a hub for them, like the the Echara one. What if the
new smart display? Oh, the new smart display would be the hub for the camera. That would make a
lot of sense. Maybe they come maybe these come together too because that's one of the biggest uses
for a smart display is senior video doorbell when someone rings the door. You can obviously do
that with your Apple TV today when you someone rings the doorbell. You can have the video show up
on your on your big screen. But it's also nice to have it on your little screen that's on your
desk or in your on your kitchen counter. I think the doorbell just makes more sense for the actual
consumer. It's very powered. I'm with you. We'll do five. We'll see five in the doorbell.
Doorbell five. And I do love the facial ID feature on this that's been rumoured though. Do you?
I do because I've used it. I've used Face Unlock and I with other cameras and I've actually really
enjoyed it. I was surprised. I do. Do you do which one do you prefer or do you want both?
I liked both. I think the problem with UWB is you've got to have your phone on you. With Face Unlock,
you don't have to have your phone on you. Which is it does make a difference, especially for
families. If you have kids that don't have phones. I think it's a broader use case Face ID.
And with Apple, people are used to it. You use it to unlock your phone. So I use it to unlock my
door. And I think that is just this more of a consumer use case in that. I think there's more of an
AI use case in the camera. So we'll see. Let's go with five for doorbell, six for security camera.
So that's how good. Sounds good. And then the last one, the most exciting one.
Okay, least likely to happen ever. I don't actually think this is going to happen.
Robotic tabletop display. So what is this one? Andrew, you do think it's going to happen?
Oh, 100%. I want the lamp. The lamp. So this is what has been rumoured. Like within Apple,
they call it the Pixar lamp. This robot. And there's actually a video of Apple testing a similar robot
lamp that they did for a sort of a white paper to prove that you need interaction with a device
that is endearing. And so it sounds like this device might be designed to sort of be your friend.
Is that what you're hearing? I mean, we've heard who knows where all these things are going to
go together. But this is my thought. I think this is 100% like very likely to happen. I'm not
going to say guaranteed. Apple can scratch scratch things at any point in the process for any reason.
And it could be a little less exciting than some of the rumors say, like you talk about it like being
your friend. I don't know about that. We've heard versions of Apple testing out like the...
Well, apparently it's code named charismatic is the OS is confused. But I heard that was the name
for Apple's home OS, which could just run on the smart display. Right. Yes. But charismatic is
quite telling. But I heard that some kind of that Apple might have a version of Siri AI just running
as a version of the little finder face or a little finder guy. So what if, Jen, it's literally just
an adapter or an updated version of this smart display that uses the technology that Apple's
already had out for a few years. The tracking dot kit. Yeah. This is a no longer an existing product
and holding up like the Belkin tracking stand pro, which was I think recalled.
It was. Yeah. So you should not have that. I should not. This is a fire hazard, apparently.
But yeah, it can move. It was able to move and follow you around. And that's what this rumoured
tabletop display is going to be. It's going to be rumoured to be like a seven inch display,
right? On a motorized arm that can move around with you and like react to you. Yeah.
The is the rumour. It could just instead of being on a stationary base, like we have with,
you know, rumoured for the launch of a half home pod mini with a seven inch display. What if it's
just a bigger version of that base that has dot kit built into it that follows you around the room?
That's far less exciting than a robot. I thought it would be a robot, Andrew. Give me robots.
I mean, we're getting there. You got to start somewhere. You got to start on your counter.
I keep seeing, I don't know, because it's, you know, X or Twitter, you see one video and then you
see a thousand of the same video. But for the last several days, I've just seen all the companies
launching their own versions of the Pixar lamps. And I just keep seeing videos of them as AI
assistants rotating around literally is just lamps. But I could see Apple making a version of,
you know, it's, it's assistant that has some sort of UI to it. And then on some sort of dot kit
base with an improved speaker that feels very much like a personal assistant, a personal robot
sitting on your counter. Okay, Andrew, we've got it. We've ranked the likelihood of the products
arriving. And number one is Apple TV. We think that's a shoe in home pod mini, maybe not Maxi. We
didn't really get to that. Number two. And then at number three, we'll be Siri in the home.
We get the Apple intelligence. And those three are, you know, neck and neck at the finish line,
followed closely, hopefully, number four, the smart, the home smart display, the Apple hub,
Apple Home Hub. Who knows what it's going to be called? Apple pad. Apple pad sounds good to me.
Home pad. There we go. There you go. Apple take that one. And then number five is a Apple doorbell
camera. Number six, an Apple security camera. And then number seven, the robotic table top display
that looks like the Pixar lamp and that's going to be charming. That seems not likely in my books.
Andrew is a lot more optimistic. Thank you, Andrew. Really appreciate you joining me to start this
one out. And we'll have to get back together in a few months and see if we got it right. Hopefully
we do. Sounds great. That's it for the Verge cast. Remember to subscribe to the Verge for
ad free episodes of our podcasts, exclusive newsletters and more. We love to hear from you, email us at
Vergecast at theverge.com or call the hotline at 866-verge-11. The Verge cast is a production of
the Verge and the Vox media podcast network. Today's show is produced by Josh Kahas, Eric Gomez,
Brandon Keifer and Travis Lachuck. Bye!
The Vergecast
