Apple rumored to be launching a $350 Echo Show rival to take on Amazon
Apple is set to release a new line of products next month, as per its usual annual refresh, and it looks like it’ll be dropping a brand new device.
The tech giant is yet to reveal a release date or the lineup for its new products, but the rumor mill is now suggesting that this could include a new item set to rival Amazon.
This comes as Apple is set to release its latest operating system update, iOS 27, in September, with a whole host of new features coming to iPhones.
One particularly major upgrade is the revamped Siri AI, with the virtual assistant undergoing an entire overhaul.
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Apple has described the new addition as being able to ‘help users find what they need in the moment, from answering questions from the web on virtually any topic, to surfacing relevant information from a user’s personal messages, emails, photos, and more’.
Craig Federighi, who is Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, added: “With access to broad world knowledge for up-to-date answers on virtually any topic, along with onscreen awareness and personal context understanding, Siri AI can help users take action across apps more naturally than ever.”
And this could all become part of a hub, with the firm rumored to be bringing in a brand new product - a smart home hub.
As reported by MacRumors, the hub is expected to have a speaker and a display, with an interface described as ‘tvOS blended with watchOS and iOS’.
It’s thought that the home hub will be able to connect all other smart devices and act as a central base for a smart home.
This has the potential to rival Amazon’s Echo Show, with many people taking to social media to share their own reactions to the news.
On Reddit, one user wrote: “I can’t believe we don’t have the ability for HomePod and Apple TV to open/play shows etc. it would really level up the living room experience.”
Another said: “I will say, running the IOS27 beta, the new Siri dare I say it.... Doesn't suck. It does so much more than it used to (and still has some duh moments every now and then), but it is nice to have it do what they said it should have been able to do years ago.”
And a third person joked: “Hey Siri, feed the cat from now on.”
While a new range of Apple devices is expected to drop next month, it is thought that this hub might take a little longer to reach consumers, with people suggesting it might become available towards the end of this year or 2027.