Apple's iPad is one of its best-selling devices, and the company has been making some great versions of the iPad that have made it so popular. It looks like Apple wants to give the iPad one more avatar now, and that is of being a desktop hub, complete with a speaker.
Apple is planning on releasing an iPad docking accessory with an in-built speaker hub, according to trusted Apple journalist Mark Gurman of Bloomberg. This device is coming in 2023 and will go up against the docking accessory recently announced for Google Pixel Tablet.
Apple is working on a standalone smart display, and a similar iPad dock
We've heard about this kind of implementation coming from Apple before. However, in his latest Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman confirmed that Apple is exploring two options with this. First is a stand-alone device that combines iPad and Homepod together, into a smart display desktop device, like an Amazon Echo Show. Secondly, Apple is working on an iPad docking accessory with a speaker hub that will let users convert an iPad into a smart display, like the aforementioned Pixel Tablet.
Gurman pointed out that device would strengthen Apple's smart home portfoilio, regardless of which implementation Apple chooses. He said, "Regardless of its ultimate approach, the move would mark one of Apple’s most significant pushes into smart-home devices, expanding on its still small foothold in set-top boxes and speakers. It already offers the Apple TV and HomePod, but nothing that rivals the Echo Show from Amazon.com Inc. or Google’s latest efforts."
Apple is set to have a heavy 2023, with its Reality brand of extended reality headsets set to make a debut, in addition to a bunch of new devices including this new device. In the meantime, Apple is expected to release an update to its best iPad, the iPad Pro, bringing the new M2 chip to the iPad.
