What to expect from Apple’s ‘Welcome Home’ event

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Get ready for a smart home hub, a refreshed HomePod Mini, a faster Apple TV, and maybe some LG smart locks.

Get ready for a smart home hub, a refreshed HomePod Mini, a faster Apple TV, and maybe some LG smart locks.

Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

We are quickly coming up on Apple’s “Welcome Home” launch event, where we expect a host of smart home-related announcements. We are expecting refreshes to Apple TV and HomePod Mini, as well as a brand new smart home hub. We could also see the debut of a new platform called homeOS, and some partner devices from LG.

What we probably won’t be seeing is the long-rumored touchscreen MacBook, which Cupertino whisperer Mark Gurman says will debut later this month.

“Welcome Home” will officially kick off in New York on October 13th at 9AM ET. Here’s more about what to expect.

Until now, Apple has primarily relied on the Home app to control all the various bits and bobs that make up your smart home. But it’s a market niche that the company has been eager to tackle more fully. The new device, which could be called HomePad or HomeView or, more simply, Apple Home Hub, will reportedly feature a 6-inch square touchscreen that can either be mounted on a wall or placed on a table or countertop. According to Mark Gurman, the countertop model will somewhat resemble the iMac G4, with the screen attached to an arm set into a half sphere.

It will also supposedly use voice or facial recognition to identify who is interacting with it, pulling up the relevant contacts, calendar appointments, and more. Apple will offer the option for secondary identification through an iPhone to keep personal data more secure. The whole thing will reportedly run a new software platform called…