HomePod firmware references new iPhone screen design with a notch cut out at the top, presumably for sensors, and an infrared face detection feature
Late last week, Apple released early firmware for its HomePod smart speaker, which won't be launching to the public until December.
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple shipped early HomePod firmware months before the speaker's December launch, and code inside it references a new iPhone screen with a top cutout for sensors plus an infrared face detection feature — details Apple had not announced for its next phone. A follow-up report the next day surfaced an actual image of the notched design in the same firmware, turning a speaker update into an accidental preview of the iPhone.
The episode matters because it set a template: Apple's own pre-release software became the primary channel through which unannounced hardware designs escape. The notch went on to define iPhone industrial design for years — Kuo later reported even the smaller 5.4-inch iPhone 12 would keep one, just a narrower version — and the HomePod line itself kept leaking capabilities, from the mini's disabled temperature and humidity sensor to a planned display-equipped redesign.
First-order effects
- Apple's next iPhone design — the sensor notch and infrared face detection — is public before Apple has said a word about it, compressing the company's control over its own product reveal cycle.
- Accessory makers and case manufacturers gain enough detail from the firmware to begin designing around a notched screen ahead of any official specification.
Second-order effects
- Rival phone makers watching the leak now know Apple is moving to camera-based face unlock, forcing them to respond on biometric authentication rather than just fingerprint readers.
- Apple faces a tradeoff on future pre-release builds: shipping firmware early to partners accelerates the ecosystem but hands leakers a reliable window into unreleased hardware.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, Apple's secrecy model shifts from controlling announcements to controlling build access — expect tighter internal distribution of pre-launch firmware across the HomePod, iPhone, and Watch lines.
- The notch-and-sensor-stack approach points toward phones designed around their sensor arrays first, with screens shaped to fit them — a structure Apple extended rather than abandoned in later iPhone generations.
The trend: Pre-release firmware has become Apple's most consistent leak vector, repeatedly disclosing flagship hardware designs before the company's own events can.