Apple's 'Welcome home' event is set for Oct 13. Will Apple unveil its first smart-home hub there?
75% of users predicted YES — the community got this one right. 8 predictions cast.
Apple held its "Welcome home" event on October 13, 2026, at an in-person gathering in Tribeca, New York, and unveiled its long-rumored smart-home hub, a touchscreen device reported under the name "Home View." The launch followed months of reporting, including from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, that Apple was preparing a square touchscreen hub paired with HomePod-like audio hardware as its entry into the smart-home display category long dominated by Amazon's Echo Show and Google's Nest Hub. Alongside the hub, Apple also introduced an updated HomePod mini and refreshed Apple TV 4K hardware.
Apple teased the event on October 8 with a "Welcome home" tagline posted by marketing chief Greg Joswiak, fueling weeks of speculation beforehand. The hub had been expected to run on a custom Apple chip with Thread, Matter and Wi-Fi 7 support, positioning it as a hub for Apple's home ecosystem rather than a standalone speaker.
The event marks Apple's most significant push into dedicated smart-home hardware since HomePod's original 2018 launch, following years of speculation that the company would build a screen-equipped hub to compete directly with rivals' established home-display products.
The Predict Six community correctly anticipated the announcement, with 75% predicting Apple would unveil a hub.