Apple may introduce a new HomePod with a 7-inch display in 2024, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The addition of a screen would help to position this new HomePod as a more useful smart home product, especially next to smart displays such as Amazon’s Echo Show and Google’s Nest Hub products.

In a post on Medium, Kuo said that this redesigned HomePod with a 7-inch panel “could enable tighter integration with Apple’s other hardware products, marking a significant shift in the company’s smart home strategy.” The analyst also expects Chinese company Tianma to be the exclusive panel supplier for this new HomePod.

天馬首度打入Apple供應鏈，為Apple再造智能家庭策略的新受益者 / Tianma is set to debut in Apple’s supply chain, becoming a new beneficiary of Apple’s revamped smart home strategyhttps://t.co/WA2qAnt95o

— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) March 10, 2023

Apple launched a second-gen HomePod last month that replaced the original model that was discontinued back in 2021. This new model came with a bigger backlit touch surface at the top, and it also features temperature and humidity sensors. Even though this new HomePod supports the Matter smart home standard and can act as a Thread border router, it’s still a smart speaker more than anything else (and not the most versatile one).

If Apple currently isn’t competing aggressively in the smart home market, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported in January that Apple was working on two new smart home products: One of them could be new iPad-like smart home display that could be mounted on walls or a stand, and the other one is said to be a new Apple TV model that could include a smart speaker and a camera for FaceTime calls.