Apple's answer to the Amazon Echo could be unveiled as early as June

The only thing Apple fans love more than new product rumours is actual new products.

Well hold on to your butts, 'cause it looks like we're getting both.

The Cupertino-based company has reportedly started manufacturing its Siri-powered speaker aimed at dethroning the likes of the Amazon Echo and Google Home. But wait, there's more: Apple is moving quickly and may unveil the new device as soon as the June WWDC.

Word of the possible reveal comes to us via Bloomberg, which hedges that news with the caveat that even if Apple fans attending WWDC are lucky enough to get a glimpse of the next shiny Apple device to fall from the Pegatron tree, the product won't likely ship until the fall.

Even so, it's just in the nick of time.

Up until now, people married to the Apple ecosystem haven't had many smart-home options. That's because the two dominant players, Echo and Home, don't play nice with Siri. So if people wanted to stick with Apple, they only really had one option: Wait it out.

That's about to change as the new Essential Home will work with Apple's voice assistant.

And, as an added bonus, the Essential Home looks nice. So nice, in fact, that it could sway Apple fans who are dying to get in on the smart-home game but don't want to wait any longer for Apple to get its act together.

The as-of-yet unnamed Apple device will likely use HomeKit to interact with various smart appliances ("Siri, turn on the lights"), and the product's expected virtual surround sound technology means people will soon be yelling in their living rooms for Siri to play some tunes off Apple Music.

Interestingly, Bloomberg says that Apple's assistant will come without a screen. This would put it at odds with the Amazon Echo Show which comes complete with a 7-inch screen. However, Apple's senior VP of worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller, has hinted that the device will come with a screen.

So, you know, when it comes to the possibility of a screen you can take your pick. But if the latest news is true, we'll know for sure one way or another quite soon.