Apple isn’t done announcing new products this fall. Hot on the heels of the iPhone 18 Pro, AirPods 5, Apple Watch Series 12, and Ultra 4 launch last month, the company is throwing another event next Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 9 a.m. ET in New York City.
The company sent the below invite to me with a cozy Apple logo in its retro six colors:
I’ll be there on 10/13! Sounds like smart home announcements! pic.twitter.com/Fj7XTFmMxK
— Ray Wong (@raywongy) October 8, 2026
The tagline says “Welcome home,” which not so subtly hints at new smart home devices. Greg Joswiak, Apple’s SVP of worldwide marketing, shared a video teaser of the Apple logo being embroidered:
Welcome home. October 13. pic.twitter.com/ChelGSDOTI
— Greg Joswiak (@gregjoz) October 8, 2026
It’s widely rumored that Apple will announce a new smart home hub, a so-called “HomePad,” powered by Siri AI and Apple Intelligence. It would serve as a central hub for controlling all of your HomeKit-enabled smart home devices. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman recently said the device could resemble an old iMac G4, which would be one hell of a throwback, considering how iconic that design was. There is also reportedly a wall-mountable version that resembles a tablet.
Apple could also announce several “second-party” smart home devices—co-developed with LG and bearing the Korean tech company’s logo—including a doorbell, indoor and outdoor cameras, a floodlight camera, a smart lock, and a smart thermostat.
The NYC Apple event could also showcase updates for the HomePod mini and Apple TV 4K. The former is rumored to come in new pastel colors, and the latter might have an updated Siri Remote. Both are expected to be updated with faster chips to support Siri AI and Apple Intelligence.
I’ll be reporting live from the event next week. New CEO John Ternus really is wasting no time rolling out new products, is he?
