Apple TV and HomePod Mini Set for Big Updates in 2025!

As 2024 draws to a close, Apple’s roadmap for 2025 is expanding. There’s buzz in the corridors that the tech giant plans to update the Apple TV and HomePod mini in 2025, in an effort to rejuvenate its aging home automation lineup.

A Busy 2025 Ahead!

Mark Gurman believes that Apple is developing a new WiFi and Bluetooth chip called Proxima, which will be featured in the upcoming Apple TV and a new HomePod mini, scheduled for 2025. Although no specific timeline is provided, the journalist notes that this chip will also be used in iPhones, later next year. The chip will support WiFi 6E (still no WiFi 7!).

From this, it can be inferred that the HomePod mini and Apple TV would launch before September. Possibly in the first half of the year, after the release of the MacBook Air M4 (confirmed with macOS 15.2) and the iPhone SE 4, but before the June WWDC? Depending on the outcomes, the chip might then be extended to other products, iPads, and then Macs by 2026.

In doing so, Apple would end its contract with Broadcom but their relationship wouldn’t end there. Indeed, to boost its AI capabilities, Cupertino is reportedly working with Broadcom on a server-dedicated processor. Named Baltra, this processor is expected to be ready by 2026.

Recap of Various Rumors

In 2021, Mark Gurman was the first to suggest that Apple was working on new HomePods with displays and cameras. In March 2023, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo weighed in on this product. For him, this HomePod might sport a very different look from the current model, notably to incorporate a 7-inch display. It is expected to offer better integration with other Apple products, marking a significant shift in its home automation strategy.

Subsequently, Mark Gurman (again) mentioned this product equipped with a speaker, alongside features of the Apple TV, a FaceTime camera, and compatibility with Siri. The Bloomberg journalist expected a launch around the end of 2023 or early 2024.

At the end of the year, the leaker and collector of Apple prototypes, Kosutami on X (formerly Twitter), shared some details about an upcoming HomePod model with an LCD screen almost compared to the second-generation HomePod (released in 2023), but it would feature a large touchscreen LCD. Subsequently, other rumors discussed a model under development codenamed B720.

Finally, and perhaps the most reliable of all indicators pointing to a new device, a beta of TVOS 17 last February referred to an unprecedented device identified as Z314. The code revealed that there were several versions of internal development and production currently being tested. The product could therefore have reached an advanced stage in the process.

Lastly, this version also brought several SwiftUI frameworks to the HomePod’s firmware, as well as a system tool, which is normally used to debug the user interface (and thus a screen) when it is unresponsive in iOS apps.

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