Apple Stores Reconfiguring for New Smart Home Products

Apple is preparing significant reconfigurations to its retail stores this fall to showcase a wave of new smart home products, a move that appears to signal the imminent launch of a long-anticipated home hub with a display. According to reporting from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple's retail teams are reorganizing the "Avenues," the accessory display walls in its stores, to make space for an upgraded Apple TV, a refreshed HomePod mini, and potentially the new hub device.

The store modifications involve rearranging sections of these perimeter walls and adding new accessory bays to better demonstrate incoming hardware. While the updated Apple TV and HomePod mini have been expected for some time, Gurman reports the scale of the retail preparation suggests a product larger than a simple refresh. The extent of the changes indicates the company is likely preparing dedicated space for a new home hub, a device that would require a distinct area for customers to experience its unique interface and understand its role in a connected home ecosystem.

This home hub, often referred to in rumors as the HomePod with Display or "HomePad," is expected to feature a seven-inch square screen. It is...