Smart Home
Apple is reshaping its stores for new home devices
Apple is reportedly redesigning its stores' accessory walls to showcase a display-equipped HomePod, Apple TV and HomePod mini updates.
Apple is reportedly reorganizing parts of its retail stores this fall to make room for a new wave of home devices, with the biggest changes aimed at a long-rumored HomePod with a display.
MacRumors reports that Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple is preparing changes to the “Avenues” in its newer stores: the perimeter-wall sections where the company displays products such as HomePod, Apple TV, AirPods and Beats alongside third-party accessories. Gizmodo describes the same retail areas as the less prominent parts of an Apple Store, typically along the outer walls rather than at the central tables.
The reported work goes beyond moving products around. Apple is said to be rearranging sections of the Avenues and adding new accessory bays for upcoming devices. That would give the company room to build a more hands-on introduction to products whose purpose may not be immediately obvious to shoppers.
“Today’s store layouts aren’t particularly well suited to demonstrating such a product.”
— Mark Gurman, Bloomberg journalist
The HomePod with a display
The retail changes appear to be especially significant because of Apple’s expected home hub, also referred to in reports as the HomePod with Display or HomePad. The device is expected to use a 7-inch square display and ship with either a tabletop base or a wall mount.
Gizmodo reports that the hub is expected to run a mobile-style operating system and connect with smart-home equipment, including appliances and doorbell cameras. The device may also offer customized interactions for different household members through facial recognition, although that capability remains part of the reported specifications rather than a confirmed Apple feature.
MacRumors adds that the software is expected to be built around tvOS, with Siri AI serving as the main interface. Code strings reportedly found in macOS Tahoe 26.7 suggest a home screen with a Widget Gallery modeled on the iPhone’s Lock Screen customization system. The same code reportedly points to configurable icons, widgets and clock faces, with widgets from a linked iPhone potentially suggested automatically.
That combination would make the device more than a small smart speaker with a screen. Its reported design would position it as a visible control point for the home, with a display that can show information, support customization and provide access to connected devices.
Apple’s challenge in a store would be explaining that role quickly. A HomePod can be demonstrated as a speaker, while an Apple TV is easy to associate with a television. A wall-mounted or tabletop home hub sits somewhere between a smart display, a control panel and a Siri device, so a static product shelf would not show much of what it does.
Gurman reportedly said Apple needs a dedicated area where customers can see how the hub works, what it is for and how it fits into a broader home setup. The new Avenues could provide that space through an interactive demonstration rather than a conventional accessory display.
Apple TV and HomePod mini updates may arrive first
The store preparations may cover more than the display-equipped hub. Apple is already believed to be working on an upgraded Apple TV and a new HomePod mini, both of which Gurman said in July were nearly ready.
The reported updates would focus on internal improvements rather than major redesigns:
- The new Apple TV may use an A17 Pro chip or better.
- The refreshed HomePod mini is expected to receive an S9-series chip, improved sound and a red finish.
- Both devices are reportedly being prepared with faster chips to support Siri AI.
The current HomePod mini has now been on the market for more than 2,000 days, according to MacRumors, making a refresh notable even if Apple keeps the existing compact design. The reported Apple TV update likewise appears to be an internal upgrade, not a new form factor.
These products already fit naturally into the Avenues, where HomePod and Apple TV are displayed today. The larger retail reorganization therefore points toward the home hub as the device requiring a fundamentally different presentation.
Reported timing remains broad
MacRumors says Gurman previously reported that the home hub could arrive at some point between October 2026 and early 2027. The store work is expected to take place in the fall, but the reports do not provide a specific launch date, price or confirmed list of markets.
Nor has Apple publicly described the product in the supplied reporting. The details about the 7-inch screen, operating system, bases, facial recognition and widget behavior remain reported features, while the retail changes are being presented as preparation for a possible new home-product lineup.
For shoppers, the practical change would be visible before the hardware is fully understood: Apple’s accessory walls could become dedicated demonstration zones for devices designed to coordinate the home. The scale of the reported work suggests Apple sees the display-equipped hub as a product that needs to be explained—not simply placed beside the dongles and accessories already occupying the store’s outer walls.