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With all the hype of potential new product releases in (probably) just over a week, including updates to the entry-level iPad and Pro model, Apple also seems to be working on a new accessory for the iPad that will turn it into a kind of Echo Show, being a much more participatory element in the entire ecosystem that we can have at home.
And it is that this information comes from nothing more than the analyst Gurman, where in his newsletter Power On at Bloomberg on Saturday he was talking about the possibility that Apple was working on boosting the use we make of our iPads with the arrival of a new home-oriented accessory. Already last year Gurman spoke of the possibility that Apple was working on a new type of product that would combine Apple TV, the iPad itself and the HomePod in a single device. And this seems to be the result of that work. Create a kind of Amazon Echo Show where we would incorporate the iPad with MagSafe? to the accessory and we could have a much more powerful speaker built into it.
«Use HomePod Mini technology to create new products«. This intention of Apple seems more visible every day and these rumors are totally based on it. According to Gurman, Apple has developed several prototypes of this accessory to provide the desired functionality without the need to create a new product that could only be at home as the compared Amazon Echo Show is.
This new accessory would be part of Apple's strategy to compete against Amazon on home issues. Amazon offers a wide range of devices for all tastes and users, with a range of prices that makes it easier to reach all users and where Alexa is the protagonist. However, Apple only has the HomePod and Apple TV in this area.
The possibility of creating a new Hub at home with the iPad as the protagonist now that with iOS 16.1 onwards it also arrives Matter for home automation it seems to make a lot of sense and it would enable Apple to jump right into the battle for the home with a device that thousands of homes already have so the barrier to entry is much lower. We will see how it evolves in the coming months and if Apple decides to launch fully into the home with this new accessory.