It was another crazy busy week for Apple, headlined by Tuesday seeing the company take the wraps off of several home-related products as part of a "Welcome home" launch wave. And as if that wasn't enough, Friday saw the start of iPhone Duo pre-orders with delivery estimates quickly slipping by months amid its popularity and apparent product shortages, while we're looking forward to even more products launches later this month, so read on below for all of the details! Top Stories Apple Announces 'HomeView' Smart Home Hub Apple's long-rumored smart home hub is finally official, with Apple debuting the $299 HomeView as part of its "Welcome home" product launch this week. Apple HomeView features a 7-inch Liquid Retina display and Siri AI support, and it's available in both tabletop and wall mounted versions. The device is able to recognize multiple users and adjust its presentation of information depending on how far the user is from the screen, and it supports Photos faces, Apple Music playlists, FaceTime calls, and more. Pre-orders are underway now with a launch coming on November 13. New Apple TV 4K Announced With A19 Chip, Updated Siri Remote, More While the Apple HomeView was the headline attraction of this week's introductions, the Apple TV box also got its first update in four years with the unveiling of the fourth-generation Apple TV 4K . The new box gets a big upgrade to the A19 chip, which provides Siri AI support and improved performance. A new Siri Remote (also available separately for older boxes) includes Find My support with Precision Finding and a speaker to allow it to make itself heard when lost. And for times when you want to use Siri without the remote, the box itself also now includes microphones for hands-free Siri AI. The new box comes with a significant price hike to $299, and it's available for pre-order now ahead of a November 13 launch. Apple Announces $149 HomePod Mini 2 With Siri AI, 'Sound Glow', and Four-Speaker Surround Sound Apple's third home-related product announcement for the week was a new HomePod mini equipped with Siri AI, new colors, and improved audio experiences. The HomePod mini 2 has an S10 chip that supports advanced computational audio, and Apple says it optimizes dynamic range, loudness, and acoustic performance in real-time. A Sound Glow feature turns the HomePod mini's top into a "visual canvas" that glows and animates in sync with music, reacting to bass and treble. It uses colors generated from the song's album artwork for a unique experience for each song. The HomePod mini 2 is priced at $149 and is available for pre-order now ahead of an October 30 launch. Siri AI won't be available at launch, however, as it will come in a future software update. iPhone Duo is Sold Out for Christmas as Shipping Estimates Slip to 2027 Apple began accepting iPhone Duo pre-orders in a number of countries at 5 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday, with delivery estimates starting to slip within minutes if not seconds . Within half an hour, delivery estimates in the U.S. ultimately stabilized at late January 2027 , a three-month delay. In remains to be seen how much, if any, stock Apple will have at its retail stores for walk-in purchases on the October 23 launch date, and scalpers are already selling off early pre-orders for as much as $5,000 . Apple Inviting Media to October 28 'Launch Experience' After previously reporting that Apple was planning a two-day product showcase in Los Angeles on October 27 and 28 for select content creators and members of the media to experience even more upcoming Apple products, Bloomberg 's Mark Gurman now says Apple has begun explicitly inviting members of the media to the event for October 28 . We're expecting to see several more products launch on either October 27 or 28, including new high-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook models with touchscreen OLED displays, new iMac and entry-level MacBook Pro models based around the M6 chip, and a new iPad mini with an OLED display. MacRumors Newsletter Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view. So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter ! Tag: Top Stories This article, " Top Stories: Apple HomeView, New Apple TV and HomePod mini, and Sold-Out iPhone Duo " first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums
Verizon plans to charge customers $10 per month for the iPhone Handoff feature that Apple added in iOS 27 . iPhone Handoff allows one phone number to be shared across two separate iPhones. Pricing was included in Verizon's iPhone Duo announcement today , with the carrier confirming iPhone Handoff will work with the iPhone Duo and the iPhone 18 Pro models. Verizon will support iPhone Handoff, giving customers the flexibility to use a single Verizon phone number seamlessly across two compatible iPhone models. Whether using the pocketable iPhone Duo on the go or iPhone 18 Pro for work, customers can switch active status between devices at any time while keeping full access to Verizon's 5G network. iPhone Handoff will be available from Verizon for $10/month on compatible iPhones models running iOS 27. With iPhone Handoff, users can switch between a main iPhone and a companion iPhone at will, though a phone number can only be active on one iPhone at a time. Verizon says support is "coming soon," and Apple previously said Verizon would adopt the feature before the end of the year. U.S. carrier T-Mobile already supports iPhone Handoff, but charges just $5 per month for the feature. AT&T, the third major U.S. carrier, recently suggested it has no imminent plans to support iPhone Handoff. U.K. carrier EE also said this week that it will soon support iPhone Handoff. Customers who have EE's Full Works Plus plan will get iPhone Handoff free, while other EE users can get it for £5 per month. Deutsche Telekom in Germany is the only other carrier that's added iPhone Handoff support so far. It costs €6.95 per month, but the carrier includes it for free in the MagentaMobil L and XL plans. Tag: Verizon This article, " Verizon Will Charge $10 a Month for iPhone Handoff " first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums
Demand for the iPhone Duo has been "nothing short of extraordinary," Apple said in a statement to the Financial Times . The company also said it is "working hard to get this revolutionary new product into customers' hands as quickly as possible." Pre-orders for the ‌iPhone Duo‌ opened this morning at 5 a.m. Pacific Time, and it didn't take long for available stock to dwindle. Within minutes , delivery dates slipped from October 23 to November, and by 5:30 a.m., delivery estimates reached January 25. It is no longer possible to order an ‌iPhone Duo‌ for delivery in 2026 from Apple, and customers who purchase now will be waiting until early 2027. Prior to pre-orders launching, rumors said supplies could be constrained due to manufacturing difficulties . With past iPhone launches where supplies were limited, Apple has sometimes been able to ship devices sooner than expected, so it's possible the company will work through its backlog ahead of schedule. There are no guarantees, though, and it's clear many will be waiting for months. Apple has not yet said whether there will be ‌iPhone Duo‌ stock available for walk-in purchases on October 23, but if there is, we could see long lines outside Apple retail stores for the first time in several years. Apple's website suggests there could be some stock available for store pickup as soon as next week, as there is a note to check back on October 24 for availability. Pricing on the ‌iPhone Duo‌ starts at $1,999 and goes up to $3,199 for 2TB of storage. The first orders will be delivered to customers on October 23. Related Roundup: iPhone Duo Buyer's Guide: iPhone Duo (Buy Now) Related Forum: iPhone This article, " Apple Calls iPhone Duo Demand 'Extraordinary' After Orders Slip to 2027 " first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums
