Apple’s home launch is no longer just a report. Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak posted “Welcome home. October 13.” on X, over a short video of hands stitching Apple’s old rainbow logo into an embroidery hoop. That’s the date Bloomberg gave for Apple’s long-delayed home hub, and it now it’s official.
Apple’s press invite, which Marques Brownlee posted on X, is for “an Apple Experience in Tribeca, New York” at 9:00 am ET on Tuesday, October 13th. That’s 9:00 pm for folks in Manila (or 6:00 am PT). Note the wording: an Apple Experience, not a keynote. Apple’s events page doesn’t list it yet.
What Apple hasn’t confirmed yet is what it’s launching. For that, Mark Gurman has reported in his Power On newsletter that the hub is called HomeView and ships around mid-November, about a month after the event. It runs the A18, the chip from the iPhone 16. There are two versions, per the report: a countertop model on a metal speaker base, in space gray, silver, starlight and pink, and a wall-mounted model with a flat, square base, in space gray and silver only. There’s no App Store on it, and Gurman says it’s built to be run mostly by voice, with Siri at the center. So the whole product rides on Siri. Bold.
Gurman also reports that a new HomePod mini and a new Apple TV 4K go on sale October 30th. Apple hasn’t announced prices for any of it. For reference, the current HomePod mini is $129 (about Php 8,100) on Apple’s US store.
Then there’s the Asia question. In Southeast Asia, Apple’s own online stores sell the current HomePod mini in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Apple’s Philippine, Vietnamese and Indonesian sites don’t have a HomePod mini page at all. Apple hasn’t announced Asia dates for any of the new devices, and none of Bloomberg‘s reported details include any.
Everything about this event is still basically “rumors” that have just been reported online. Although, Gurman’s track record on Apple is about as good as it gets. We’ll know Tuesday night, Manila time. If you’ve been eyeing a HomePod mini or an Apple TV, hold off one more day, and set an alarm for 9:00 pm.
