With Siri Speaker rumored to be unveiled next month, it’s time to take a step back and look at everything we’ve heard about the device at this point…
All in all, up until recently not much was known about Siri Speaker. It was essentially just a long-standing rumor without any details backing it up, but that changed early this year as more information started to emerge.
A Bloomberg report last September arguably kick-started the focus on Siri Speaker. The report claimed that Apple was in the process of testing the device in employee homes after following a two-year research and development period. Bloomberg also shot down those rumors of the Siri Speaker being baked into the Apple TV.
Jump forward to 2017, Twitter leaker Sonny Dickson last month took to the social media platform to reveal a handful of details about Siri Speaker. Dickson stated that the Siri Speaker will offer some form of Beats technology underneath the hood, while also noting that it will run a variant of iOS. In terms of design, he pointed to a meld between the Mac Pro and UE Boom as a good example of Apple’s design.
One big question many have about Siri Speaker, however, is whether or not the device will feature a display. While some reports have said it’s uncertain whether or not they’ll be any sort of user interface, others have been more clear. Just this weekend, KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo released another industry note in which he reiterated much of what he had already said, but also noted that Siri Speaker will include a “touch panel.”
At this point, it’s not explicitly clear what the “touch panel” will offer. It could be similar to the Echo Show, which offers a full touchscreen, or it could be something smaller, perhaps similar to that of the MacBook Pro Touch Bar.
As for an announcement, both Dickson and KGI have claimed Siri Speaker will see an unveil at Apple’s WWDC event next month, which is somewhat surprising given how the event has been almost exclusively software-focused over recent years. Though, it makes sense seeing how Apple did not hold its usual March hardware event this year.
So, that’s what we currently know about Siri Speaker: a standalone hardware device with a more powerful Siri, a touch interface, hi-fi speakers, and a WWDC unveil. What do you make of all of these rumors? As it stands now, would you purchase a Siri Speaker? Let us know down in the comments.
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