Apple TV 4K does not always get the attention it deserves at WWDC, but this year could be different. Rumours suggest that updated networking hardware and a refreshed HomePod may arrive after the conference, which begins June 8.

tvOS is perennially underrated, but an impending hardware refresh could give Apple the opportunity to finally bring Apple Intelligence to the living room. Better content recommendations, smarter search, improved gaming integration, and AI-powered content discovery are all possibilities worth watching. The groundwork is already being laid on the accessibility front: Larger Text support is coming to tvOS 27, allowing users to increase on-screen text size in supported apps — a feature already available on iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro.

The more ambitious question hanging over this year’s WWDC is whether Apple is ready to make a serious play for the connected home. Speculation has been building for some time around a dedicated home hub product that could place Apple TV at the centre of a broader smart home ecosystem. An iPad integrated with a HomePod, capable of controlling an entire smart home, is another concept that has been doing the rounds. Tighter Siri integration across all of it would seem a given. Whether Apple uses WWDC as the platform to introduce such a category remains to be seen, but the timing would make sense.

And if Apple were to tease a smart glasses product at the conference? That would be something else entirely.

On the hardware side, Bloomberg reports that a new HomePod mini is in the works, internally code-named B525. The headline change is a chip upgrade: the current S5 processor, which is seven years old, is set to be replaced with something capable of supporting Apple’s new AI features. For context, the existing Apple TV still runs on the A15 chip, which is five years old — so an across-the-board refresh is long overdue.

Whether Apple uses WWDC purely to set the stage or goes further with product announcements, the living room is beginning to look like one of the most interesting spaces in the Apple ecosystem.