“Welcome Home” – Apple Event October 13, 2026

Now it’s official: Apple has sent out the invitations for Tuesday, October 13th. Marketing manager Greg Joswiak posted a short teaser video about X with the theme “Welcome Home.” Meanwhile, journalists received invitations to an “Apple Experience” in Tribeca, New York, as 9to5Mac reports. The event starts at 9am local time, or 3pm in Germany.

The theme leaves little room for interpretation. For days, October 13 has been considered the date of Apple’s smart home reboot, and “Welcome Home” at least confirms the direction Apple is taking. The main expected products are the HomePad, Apple’s long-awaited smart home hub with display, along with a new Apple TV 4K and the HomePod mini 2. The HomePad will reportedly be available in two variants, while code in the tvOS 27.2 beta suggests the Apple TV will be able to pair with up to four HomePods as a surround sound system. Apple hasn’t confirmed any of this so far.

It will be interesting to see if the accessories that Apple has reportedly developed together with LG will also play a role. According to Bloomberg, these include a doorbell, a smart lock and a thermostat, and leaked images already show the devices. LG will reportedly sell them under its own brand, but not for a few months; it’s unclear whether they will have a storefront as early as Tuesday. For a company that usually prefers to build everything itself, this would be a notable step — and an admission that HomeKit can’t go far enough with just HomePod and Apple TV.

The format remains unclear. An “experience” in New York is more like a hands-on session for the press than a traditional Apple Park keynote. It is not yet known whether Apple will stream the presentation.

And what about Macs? If reports are to be believed, a second event will follow about two weeks later with new laptops, including the MacBook Pro with OLED display. October 13th will therefore be entirely dedicated to the home – and the question of whether Apple will finally be able to deliver there too after years of unfinished work on HomeKit.