The latest macOS 26.7 release candidate appears to reveal significant details about Apple's upcoming smart home products, with code suggesting the rumored HomePad could run an interface modeled on Apple Watch faces. The references point to a home screen built around "Faces" and a "Face Gallery," essentially Apple Watch faces scaled up for a larger display rather than mirroring the Apple TV interface.
Engadget's Filipe Espósito found indications that the HomePad, while likely to run a variant of tvOS, may work more like a giant Apple Watch. The faces appear to support customizable widgets and Smart Stacks that change throughout the day, and iPhone widgets can also be added to the display similar to how they work on the Mac through Handoff.
The code also references a privacy feature where the HomePad can detect when the user's iPhone is nearby and will only surface personal information in widgets when that phone is detected. Support for Siri AI and App Intents is also referenced in the code, alongside strings pointing to two HomePad form factors: one with a speaker base and another designed for wall mounting.
Two variants of the HomePad are expected, with 9to5Mac reporting one with a speaker base that may look like a HomePod and another intended to be wall-mounted. The release candidate also includes references to other hardware, including what's believed to be a next-generation HomePod mini and a home security camera, though identifiers in pre-release software don't guarantee these products will ship.
The breadth of the references suggests Apple has an ambitious slate of home devices in development, but nothing in the code confirms final hardware decisions.
