Apple
21 stories filed under Apple on Spoot: Spotted Early. The newest of them: “Apple's first smart home collection is real and shipping in December”, “I keep forgetting the MacBook Pro has a touchscreen”, and “Apple's stem sneaks around back in this AirPods concept”. Apple's smart home collection is real, it's shipping in December, and the first preorders are already live on the company's online store. I keep forgetting the MacBook Pro has a touchscreen, which is honestly the most Apple thing about it. Spoot: Spotted Early New things, caught while they're still new and a little weird. Spoot finds fresh gadgets, clever inventions, crowdfunding campaigns,… The list below is every Apple story on Spoot: Spotted Early, newest first.
Apple's first smart home collection is real and shipping in December
Apple's smart home collection is real, it's shipping in December, and the first preorders are already live on the company's online store. Right now, that mostly means LG accessories, including a $299.95 Outdoor Cam, but the whole thing hinges on the new Siri-powered HomeView smart display, which dropped today. Apple co-developed these devices with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric, which is the kind of cross-brand collaboration that makes you wonder who actually controls the software updates. I'm curious what the HomeView feels like from a kitchen counter or a bedside table, the same question that drives our colleague Jen Tuohy's hands-on look at the device. Spoot wants to know if the hardware lives up to the promise, or if this is another case where the press release ran faster than the product.
I keep forgetting the MacBook Pro has a touchscreen
I keep forgetting the MacBook Pro has a touchscreen, which is honestly the most Apple thing about it. For a week, I've been testing this new 16-inch PROLED Pro, and my brain keeps circling back to the slimmer design, the improved display, that Dynamic Island. Then I remember: I can just reach out and poke the glass. Steve Jobs said touch laptops were a bad idea. A subset of users demanded one anyway. Apple delivered, but not in the obvious way. It's a quiet rebellion, buried in a machine that otherwise feels like a familiar friend. That tension is the razor clam here. If you like your tech with a side of historical irony, this one's for you.
Apple's stem sneaks around back in this AirPods concept
Apple's stem sneaks around back in this AirPods concept. The AirPods Open puts that famous little stalk behind your ear instead of dangling in front of it, which is the sort of simple, obvious-in-hindsight idea that makes you wonder why nobody thought of it sooner. Apple has a long habit of showing up late to the party and somehow leaving with everyone's attention. It wasn't first to MP3 players or smartwatches, but it usually arrives with something that redefines the category. This concept does the same trick with a form factor that's been stubbornly stuck in place. It's speculative, sure, but it's the kind of weird little pivot that gets us genuinely excited. If you liked that mushroom camera asking what we should really be throwing away, you'll appreciate this too.
Apple's gadget lab is messy and I'm genuinely charmed
Apple's gadget lab is messy and I'm genuinely charmed. The iPhone gets more screens, the MacBook finally lets you poke it, and the HomeView just runs CarPlay apps. After years of polish, the most successful product maker on earth has decided to try things again, even when "trying" means slapping a touch panel on a lovely new MacBook Pro just to see if you'll use it. The results aren't always perfect, but watching Apple experiment is its own kind of fun. On The Vergecast, David and Nilay debate touchscreen laptops, and Nilay explains exactly why he's buying that new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display. If you're in the mood for more delightfully weird hardware, check out our piece on the mycelium disposable camera that decomposes before your photos do. Stay spooty.
Apple finally lets you poke a MacBook screen and we have the video
The glowing Apple logo is back. That alone is enough to make a certain kind of person sit up a little straighter, but Apple also finally, *finally* let you touch a MacBook screen. The new MacBook Pro has a PROLED XDR touch display, a tandem OLED panel hitting 2,000 nits at 120Hz, with a hole-punch webcam instead of that notch. It weighs as little as three pounds. Apple CEO John Ternus teased the returning logo on X, and now there's video of the whole thing in action. It took them long enough. If you're wondering whether this is the real deal or just another iPad-with-a-keyboard situation, go watch the footage. And while you're poking around, check out our piece on the iPad Mini that shed weight, gained OLED and a whole new reason to stare.
Apple put the M6 in the same iMac and called it a day
Apple put the M6 in the same iMac and called it a day. That's the whole move. Faster chip, same chassis, same colors, same everything else. It's not a redesign. It's not a rethink. It's a processor swap dressed up as a launch, and honestly? That's fine, if you were waiting for a speed bump. But if you were hoping Apple might finally give the all-in-one a modern screen or a slimmer waistline, you'll be disappointed. The M6 is genuinely quick. The iMac is still the iMac. Meanwhile, Apple's October home makeover keeps rolling with HomeView, a $299 smart display for the kitchen that looks a lot more like a new idea. If tiny homes are more your speed, *The Helena* hides two bedrooms behind ordinary doors, no loft ladders, no compromises.
The iPad Mini Sheds Weight, Gains OLED and a Whole New Reason to Stare
The new iPad mini is thinner, lighter, faster, and has an OLED display that makes everything you do on it feel like you're holding the good light. Apple shed some serious weight from this thing, and the screen upgrade alone is a reason to stare at it for longer than you probably should. It's a small device that now asks bigger questions about how much you actually need a full-sized tablet. I'm genuinely curious whether this becomes the daily carry that quietly replaces everything else in your bag. For another kind of pocketable utility at a very different price point, our piece on the Gerber Suspension NXT multi-tool covers a tool that costs less than lunch.
Apple's seven-inch HomeView screen turns every wall into a command center
Apple finally put a seven-inch screen on your wall and called it HomeView. It consolidates every smart-home control, every app, every home-management toggle into one glossy dashboard that hangs there like a quiet command center. Two versions exist, which is classic Apple, give people a choice and watch them argue about which one is right. The idea is simple: stop digging through your phone for the lights, the thermostat, the door lock. Put it all on a wall where you can see it. We wrote about this in "Apple's HomeView Finally Gives Your Smart Bulbs a Room With a View," and the comparison holds. A room with a view indeed. Now the question is whether HomeView actually becomes the brain of the house or just another screen competing for your attention.
Apple's HomeView is a chimera of nostalgia, and that's exactly the point
The iMac G4's floating display was always the best thing Apple ever put on a desk, and HomeView finally brings that energy to the wall. A 7-inch smart display that borrows the iPad's touchscreen, the Apple Watch's familiar faces, and a HomePod's speaker base? That's a chimera worth taking seriously. It's nostalgic, sure, but nostalgia isn't a flaw when the original design was this good. The real question is whether it earns its spot as the center of the connected home, or just becomes another screen demanding attention. I'm gently skeptical, but also already checking where it fits. If you want the full picture of Apple's smart home push, our piece on how John Ternus is making Apple weird again pairs nicely with this one. Stay spooty.
Apple finally built a smart home hub, and it brought some friends
Apple finally built a smart home hub, and it brought some friends. The HomeView is Apple's first smart display, and it arrives with a 7-inch squircle design that looks like a gargantuan smart speaker grew a face. It costs $299 and preorders are open, which is nice because Apple has been threatening to make a smart display for years and years without ever actually doing it. The HomePod Mini 2 also finally exists after nearly six years, coming in at $149 with preorders open and a Friday launch date. Spoot already has a tab open on that one. The whole "Welcome Home" event dropped a slate of new smart home and security accessories too, built with trusted third-party manufacturers. It is the most serious hardware push Apple Home has seen in a long time.
John Ternus is making Apple weird again and twelve new designs prove it
John Ternus is making Apple weird again, and twelve new designs prove it. Fifteen years of polished arrivals, of showing up late with the best snacks, gone. Under Ternus, Apple has shipped twelve new designs in six weeks, and they don't feel like committee decisions. They feel like someone finally asked what if the thing had a hinge that made you stop, or a material that shouldn't work but does. I love it. This is the Apple that used to burrow into your curiosity and stay there. It helps that the new Citroën 2CV concept is doing something similar on wheels, reinventing a classic as a tiny electric roll-top, weird and wonderful. Ternus isn't polishing a legacy; he's prying it open.
The HomePod Mini 2 finally exists, preorders are open, and Spoot already has a tab open
Apple didn't forget about the HomePod Mini. After nearly six years, the Mini 2 is real, preorders are open at $149, and it lands October 30th. Inside is the S10 chip from the Apple Watch Series 10, a small, clever piece of silicon that now has to power a speaker. It will eventually get Siri AI through a future update, which means the voice assistant might finally become someone you actually want to talk to. You can build a four-speaker surround system with the new Apple TV 4K, or use them as wireless computer speakers if your Mac supports Wi-Fi 6E. That's a lot of connectivity for a little puck. If Apple's recent weirdness has your attention, you should also read why John Ternus is making Apple weird again.
Apple's smart home finally gets a front door, and we're already inside
Apple's smart home finally gets a front door, and we're already inside. October 13th, 9AM ET, New York. "Welcome Home" is the name, and it's doing exactly what Apple event names usually only promise: giving the company's scattered home gadgets an actual address. We're expecting refreshed Apple TV and HomePod Mini boxes, a brand new smart home hub, and possibly the debut of homeOS, a platform that sounds suspiciously like the thing Apple should have built five years ago. LG partner devices could show up too. What we probably won't see is the touchscreen MacBook, which Mark Gurman says is waiting until later this month. That's fine. A proper hub matters more than a laptop you can poke.
The AI assistant is the product, the gadget is just its cage
The AI assistant is the product, and the gadget is just its cage. That's the takeaway from this week's Vergecast, where David and Nilay tear through Microsoft's high-end laptop, Amazon's fancy Android tablet, and Apple's headfirst dive into the smart home. The hardware is shiny, sure, but every single launch is really just a vessel for the same idea: the AI should run the computer. Whether that's even the right idea is the question worth asking. It's gadget season, and the spec sheets are full of clever hinges and long battery claims, but the actual strategy is suspiciously uniform. If you want a deeper cut on the weirdness, the Apple robot arm piece is worth a read. Spoot's take? The cages are getting prettier. The thing inside still hasn't proven it can fly.
Apple's robot arm finally gives the HomePod something to reach for
Apple event names usually read like perfume ads. Wonderlust. Scary Fast. It's Glowtime. This one, though, landed with a thunk: October 13th, and the HomePod is finally getting something to reach for. A screen. A robotic arm. A speaker that turns toward you like a sunflower with better taste. The invite alone is doing more heavy lifting than a spec sheet, because the question was never whether the HomePod sounded good. It always did. The question was whether it would ever do anything worth watching. Now it moves. That's the razor clam: not the display, not the motor, but the implication that Apple finally believes a speaker should follow you around the room. If you've ever yelled at a stationary device from the couch, you already know why this matters.
The M6 Mac Mini finally stops pretending it costs that much
The M6 Mac Mini finally stops pretending it costs that much. Apple's latest pint-sized powerhouse debuted at $899, a full $300 jump from the M4's launch price, and for a machine that's mostly unchanged apart from a 20 percent faster chip, that stung. But October Prime Day just clawed $119 off the base model, bringing it to $779.99 at Amazon. That's the first real discount on this thing, and it flips the math completely. Best Buy is still asking $799 for the older M4 version with the same 256GB storage and 16GB RAM, which now feels like a trap. Don't get that one. The M6 is faster, cheaper, and finally priced like the sensible little box it always was. If you've been circling, this is the tab to keep open.
October Prime Day digs the AirPods Pro 3 out of the noise at $179
October Prime Day just dug the AirPods Pro 3 out of the noise at $179, the first time they've dipped below $190 since June. That's $70 off, and for earbuds with five ear tip sizes, live translation, and a heart rate sensor that actually works, that's a razor clam worth circling back for. Apple recently launched the AirPods 5 at $149.99, and those are fine if you hate ear seals. But for thirty bucks more, the Pro 3 hand you superior noise cancellation, better bass, and a fit that stays put. It's the kind of value that makes you wonder why you'd settle. If tiny, clever design decisions are your thing, you'll love how our piece on that 20-foot tiny home burrows into the specs and finds a better floorplan.
Apple's rumored camera watches but doesn't look, leaving only text
Apple is building a home security camera that refuses to show you a single frame of video. Instead, according to Mark Gurman on the *Power On* podcast, these little devices, part of a program called J450, will send you text descriptions of what they saw. No footage. No live feed. Just words. That is a genuinely weird bet for a company that sells screens by the billions. It is also the kind of narrow, stubborn detail that makes you stop scrolling. A camera that doesn't look? That is either paranoid genius or an overcorrection for privacy anxiety. I lean toward the latter, but I want to see how it plays out.
Apple's smart-home anchor finally has a date, and a mini entourage to match
October 13th. Circle it, charge the HomePods, and clear a spot on the wall. Apple's long-rumored smart home hub finally has a date, and it's bringing a mini entourage. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says the new 6-inch display hub, which mounts or sits like a tiny countertop Picasso, will debut alongside a fresh HomePod mini and an upgraded Apple TV. The whole crew is built to flex Siri AI, Apple's overhauled assistant. The hub is reportedly about as thick as an iPhone, with bezels that'll make you nostalgic for older iPads. That's a delightfully chunky little anchor. It's a new category for Apple, so the skepticism is warranted, but the specs here feel right. The real question is whether Siri finally catches up.
Steve Jobs' favorite sneaker just got 20 percent easier to love
There's a quiet thrill in watching a classic get a little more attainable. British retailer End is selling a premium version of the Made in USA 992, Steve Jobs' favorite sneaker, and it's 20 percent easier to love because it's 20 percent cheaper. That's it. That's the footnote that beats the marketing copy. The 992 never needed hype; it just needed to be worn. So seeing a solid discount on a sturdy, heritage-heavy shoe feels like the universe finally cutting a break to people who appreciate a good heel counter. It's not a flashy deal, and that's exactly why it works. If you're circling back for something with wheels, our Schwinn's Hurricane return pairs nicely with this kind of sensible savings.
Apple's own code just whispered three new gadgets before the year ends
Apple's code just whispered three new gadgets before the year ends, and honestly, that's the kind of gossip we live for. MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris dug up images and details pointing to a refreshed HomePod mini, an iPad mini 8, and an Apple TV 4K, all expected after this month's iPhone 18 Pro and folding iPhone Duo debut. The HomePod mini 2 reportedly keeps the original's shape from late 2020, which is fine, but I'm side-eyeing the color situation. The current model pops in orange, yellow, and blue; if the leak's images suggest a muted palette, that's a quiet downgrade for a speaker that made brightness its personality. We'll see what ships.