Rumor mill: Rumors have long suggested that Apple aims to compete with Amazon's and Google's screen-equipped smart home speakers. As the Cupertino giant rolls out a new generation of devices to support its Siri AI upgrades, the digital assistant might be the centerpiece of a new product category that combines the HomePod and iPad.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman claims that Apple will launch its long-rumored smart home hub on October 13. The device resembles Amazon's Echo Show and Google Nest, but with Apple's software stack.
The home hub, codenamed J490, features a tablet-like screen and a speaker similar to Amazon's and Google's devices, but it uses Apple's recently upgraded Siri AI digital assistant to recognize multiple users in a household by voice and appearance.
When a recognized user approaches, it displays their calendar, messages, app layouts, and other information according to each user's preferences and accounts. A neutral mode also exists for guests. While visual recognition, which uses a single camera, is less sophisticated than the iPhone's Face ID, Face ID can serve as a fallback or extra security measure.
J490's 6-inch square LCD screen is about as thick as an iPhone, with a quarter-inch black bezel and rounded edges. It attaches to a round base speaker with an adjustable, polished metal arm, and it must remain plugged in. Another model, the J491, mounts onto a wall with a similar arm.
Apple expects users to control smart thermostats, door locks, lighting, cameras, and other IoT devices via the home hub. Other features include FaceTime calls, an intercom, and music playback. Instead of adopting iPadOS or tvOS, J490 and J491 will introduce a new OS that borrows elements from the Apple TV, iPad, and Apple Watch operating systems.
Rumors about the device have circulated since at least 2024, but Apple reportedly delayed it after realizing that the initial iteration of Siri AI needed improvement. Now that the company appears ready to launch devices such as the iPhone 18 Pro with its GenAI assistant at the forefront, it might finally be time for Apple to enter the smart home hub market. The first new HomePod since 2023 and the first new HomePod mini since the device's 2020 introduction are also on the horizon. Other future Apple smart home devices could include a home camera that tracks a user's location but does not record video.
If the reports about the smart home hub prove accurate, Apple's new CEO, John Ternus, would be overseeing the launch of a new product and the company's entry into a new category less than two months into his tenure, which began on September 1. Other Apple devices expected to launch over the next several months include the standard iPhone 18, iPhone Air 2, iPhone 18e, refreshed iPad models, a new Apple Pencil that supports the iPhone Duo, and several new Mac models. These might include a successor to the MacBook Neo and a budget-friendly iPad for younger users. Some of these products might launch before the end of 2026.