Apple appears ready to make a serious push into the smart home market with a new screen-equipped hub reportedly coming at a product launch event as soon as October 13.
The device is for those who want to put the new Siri AI at the center of their home, as well as those who are serious about Apple’s HomeKit smart home accessories. Or both.
Here’s everything we know about Apple’s smart home hub in the days before it is expected to launch.
Apple smart home hub: The next big thing?
Apple has a long history of not being first to market. It did not make the original MP3 player, smartphone or wireless headphones, but these were all niche products before Apple took the iPod, iPhone and AirPods mainstream. That appears to be the plan with the smart home hub.
The rival Google Nest Hub offers the Google Assistant and control of compatible smart-home devices. Amazon Echo Show devices take a similar approach, combining Alexa with smart-home controls.
These competing hubs have been on the market for years, but neither is as popular as smartphones, tablets or even basic smart speakers. Apple’s offering might be the breakthrough product the category is missing.
Siri AI will be the star
Every new product category needs an easy-to-understand selling point. And for Apple’s smart home hub, that’s apparently Siri AI. This digital assistant is available on the iPhone and other devices, but the goal of the new device seems to be: Make Siri ubiquitous.
Someone can interact with a hub sitting on a countertop or hanging on a wall simply by talking — without needing to grab another device. The user could, for example, ask Siri to display their calendar, then add an event without ever touching the hub. Or they could use the home hub to look up a recipe.
With Siri AI, the hub can answer questions, play music and control compatible HomeKit and Matter accessories. With its new artificial intelligence upgrade, Siri can understand follow-up requests and context, allowing conversations that feel more natural than issuing a series of rigid voice commands.
The device reportedly runs a new operating system that combines elements of iPadOS, watchOS and tvOS, with the software designed to put an emphasis on Siri AI. It also will support apps and widgets.
A small screen for the kitchen, bedroom, etc.
Concept art: Cult of Mac
According to details that leaked out before the big reveal, Apple’s smart home hub includes a roughly 6-inch square touchscreen. The device is said to be about as thick as an iPhone, with rounded corners and narrow black bezels.
This smallish display will make the device easier to position on a kitchen counter or nightstand. Plus, it’s supposed to quickly show who’s at the front door, what’s on the family calendar, etc., not show movies.
That said, it’ll supposedly act as a digital photo frame when not in use.
The small screen size could also help keep the price down. Even so, Apple’s home hub is likely to cost more than Amazon’s or Google’s versions of a similar size.
Tabletop Apple home hub could be the standout
Concept art: Cult of Mac
Both a tabletop version and one designed to hang on a wall are reportedly on the way.
The tabletop version sounds particularly distinctive. It supposedly uses a round metal base containing speakers and microphones, with a polished metal arm supporting the display. The design reportedly takes inspiration from the iconic iMac G4.
Leaks indicate Apple could release the device in a variety of finishes: silver, space gray, starlight and rose pink. Leaker pdfu found those four colors in Apple’s software code. However, a rival report points to just a standard gray aluminum finish.
The wall-mounted version will reportedly use a thinner base that nevertheless includes speakers and microphones.
For in-home use only
Concept art: Cult of Mac
Despite the resemblance to an iPad, the smart home hub reportedly won’t come with a battery. It will need to remain connected to power via USB-C, making it more of a permanent fixture in the home.
And that will allow Apple to cut back a bit on the security. The smart home hub will supposedly employ facial recognition to identify members of the household, allowing the hub to display different information depending on who is using it. However, this won’t be the same as Apple’s traditional Face ID system. It seems a lower level of security is all that’s needed for a device that won’t be used in public, and fewer sensors will help reduce the cost.
The front-facing camera is also expected to support FaceTime video calls.
A non-camera AI-enabled camera?
A remote camera will apparently act as an unusual accessory for the Apple home hub.
“It’s a sensor that cannot actually pull in real video footage,” said Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman during his most recent podcast. “It’s analyzing your environment in your home and around your home, simply using AI.”
The sensors, code-named J450, should pose less of a privacy risk than a standard camera.
“These are little cameras that you can put around your house,” Gurman said. “They have very low frame rate. It looks like a cylinder. It looks like a metal giant chapstick.”
The cameras-that-don’t-capture-actual-video approach sounds similar to Apple’s rumored AirPods with cameras.
Future version could go robotic
The first-generation hub reportedly won’t come with a robotic arm. But Bloomberg reports that Apple is working on a more ambitious follow-up device, code-named J595, that could add one.
Reports that Apple is developing a smart home hub that’s essentially an iPad on a robot arm date back to 2024. This design would allow the screen to rotate and tilt to keep facing the user as they move around.
It seems Cupertino is planning a line of products in this category. If the first version is called the Home Hub, perhaps the robotic version will be dubbed the Home Hub Pro.
Apple home hub coming on October 13
Concept art: Cult of Mac
Bloomberg reported Sunday that, “Apple is planning to hold an event on Oct. 13 to unveil its long-awaited smart home hub with a screen, the new HomePod mini and an updated Apple TV.”
But to be clear, Apple hasn’t announced an event for that day. It hasn’t sent invitations or published an official event announcement, so we don’t know whether this will be a conventional streamed Apple Event, a shorter prerecorded presentation, or simply a series of announcements.
If it’s going to be an in-person event, invitations need to go out very soon, though.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 26 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh SE/30 (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer.
That’s because he’s a “tablet first” type of guy. Rather than use a Macbook, he connects a keyboard case to the iPad. And instead of a desktop Mac, he connects his tablet to a 27-inch display and full-size keyboard. (So don’t try to tell him that everyone has to use a Mac to be productive.)
Before coming to Cult of Mac, Ed wrote for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
One response to “Apple smart home hub rumors: What we know”
I really don’t think people see the significance of what is going to happen here. This product is literally going to be as big as the iPod because Apple is tying all their tech together with this product.
For 95% of the general public, home automation is not something they think they can do on their own or will do anything significant for them and it is too expensive for them. While they see that automated light switches, cameras, doorbells, etc., are cheaper than ever, they don’t know how to control or use them, and they don’t think they can do it affordably.
With the power of the Apple ecosystem, literally a $250 device that sits on your counter or you can mount on a wall can control them for you. While Apple TV and HomePods can do it, neither has an always-on screen and is made to do just that.
PLUS, with new AI tied to Siri, it can be PROACTIVE and conversational, and you essentially have HAL 9000 sitting on your counter at an AFFORDABLE price; plus don’t forget it’s tied to the Apple ecosystem and has face recognition and knows who people are. You can tell Siri AI to do things like: when you see my son, remind him to take out the trash tonight, or when you see my wife, tell her I went to the store to get groceries, or when I get up in the morning, tell me the weather, the traffic to work, and what appointments I have… AND IT DOES.
AND with center stage and hand off where you can make phone calls from your iphone with this device, AND cameras in other rooms, (the rumors all day security cameras, they aren’t, they are facetime cameras) you can make phone calls anywhere in your house, or say things like every time I walk into the living room, turn the temperature down to 75 degrees, or every time my wife walks into the turn the temperature up to 74 degrees, or anything like that.
All at an affordable price that anybody can afford, and it will interface with the Apple ecosystem you already have.