The upcoming HomePod is believed to be the biggest redesign of a smart speaker since its creation in 2018. This is because all rumors suggest that Apple will add a display to the device so that it can compete with the Amazon Echo Show 15 and Google Nest Hub, among others.

Unfortunately, the development process seems to have hit a snag, and we won't see the new product until at least after WWDC next year. That means late June or early July at the earliest.

This is according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (via MacObserver), who claims that Apple has delayed this device until Q3 2025. Kuo cites ongoing software development issues related to this device as the reason. He also claims that Apple will probably be looking for a new device for the smart home, since Apple would surely want this device to function as a smart home control center.

The next-generation HomePod is believed to have a 6.7-inch display and an A18 processor; in October, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that the HomePod will cost around $1,000 and will have a screen “positioned on a rotating robot limb, speakers will be placed at its base,” he claimed.

He added that HomePod would shift from a music player to “focus on home security monitoring, advanced video conferencing, and media playback in high quality sound.”

This pivot to home security is likely where some of the aforementioned software struggles come from. Garman also claims that Apple is “building a new home ecosystem team”

with some of the remaining engineers from the closed Apple Car project.

Software plans for this will also be expanded to include a new operating system called homeOS, which will apparently be built on top of the tvOS software running Apple TV (itself based on iOS).

If so, it makes sense for Apple to lay the groundwork for this device at next year's WWDC and follow up with a hardware release soon thereafter.

Apple certainly has a lot of catching up to do in the smart home arena, like Google and Amazon, but the company is notorious for disrupting the status quo when it finally decides to jump into a new market category.