Apple plans to follow Google and offer dock that turns the iPad into a smart display

During the unveiling of the Pixel 7 series earlier this month, Google announced that it will release a Charging Speaker Dock for the Pixel Tablet, which will be released sometime next year. The dock will not only wirelessly charge the tablet, but it will also turn it into a smart display with the ability to control your smart home devices. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is considering something similar for the iPad.

Gurman says that such a device could be ready to ship in 2023, which would be the same year that Google is planning on releasing the Pixel Tablet and the aforementioned dock. He writes that Apple's original plan was to create a new device that combined the attributes of an iPad with a smart speaker-like base. Users would set up this new device in the kitchen, on a nightstand, or in the living room.

Instead, Apple is considering offering the dock as a separate accessory that would be sold to iPad owners and would also turn an iPad into a smart display that would also control smart devices around the home. Apple's share of the smart home market is minuscule compared to Google's slice of the smart home pie, but such an accessory could help Apple grab a bigger foothold in this market.

Speaking of smart speakers, Gurman also said that Apple continues to work on a new version of the HomePod that will be bigger than the current HomePod mini but possibly smaller than the original HomePod. The latter was deemed too expensive by consumers in a market where Amazon and Google are the top names in the U.S. The launch price in the states for the HomePod was $349 and was eventually reduced by $50 to $299.

In March 2021, after it became apparent that the HomePod mini was getting more business than the original HomePod, Apple pulled the plug on the original generation device.

Apple is expected to introduce new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models later this month along with the next version of its basic tablet, the iPad 10. It's too early to determine which iPad models will be compatible with a dock and whether it will work with tablets released prior to 2023. Besides allowing users to control their smart home devices through a docked iPad, such an accessory also could allow users to make FaceTime calls using Center Stage to keep them, and others in front of the camera, in the frame even when moving around.

The Meta Portal smart displays have a feature like Center Stage that uses an AI-based smart camera to keep all of the action inside the frame.