Much to unpack here, starting with the source of this rumor, Bloomberg. Anything from that source is suspect.
We are on pretty solid ground with accepting that Apple is working on an in-house modem; and it does make sense that it could be used for more than just replacing what they source from Broadcom.
Apple now brings much more to the table now vis-c-vis when they existed the home wifi market. Apple's clear long term flagship product is privacy, and I can see them levering this is some new products. An Apple branded VPN service maybe? Add that to Apple One? Build it into an Apple TV box too?
One of the more infuriating things about the HomePod is its integral power cord. I sure would like to use my HomePod mini away from 120v. If it had a cord set up like the iMac - with the power on the floor - with an ethernet port on it...well...think of the many possibilities. Would Apple enter the home cell internet business? All things equal, likely no...but add an Apple branded VPN?
Hope some of this comes to pass. The last Apple Airport Extremes are available on eBay for about $25. I have a few fun here, and they are iron horses. As others have said, they are reliable, and plenty fast for home use.
I would assume all Apple products will connect and decide which one will be the hub and which will be a network extender, similar to how it works today but with Airport hardware. I doubt Apple will ship a dedicated hub product, it would feel like a step backwards.
Except that Apple Intelligence requires more (and more expensive) processing power than HomePods and AppleTV devices currently provide. Rather than requiring replacement of all that existing hardware with more expensive versions of the same devices just to enable AI access, they can sell a new AI-capable hub that securely handles AI-processing in-home for all the other connected devices without requiring them to be AI-capable themselves.
Doing it the other way -expecting users to spend thousands to replace all their HomePods and AppleTVs- would mire HomeKit and Apple Home in low-adoption rates for years, which would be the real setback.
How about if they replace just one, like an ATV and that can act as the new hub?
Perhaps, but the point is that at this juncture, AI requires fairly beefy computational power. Rather than making next gen ATV and/or HomePods that much more beefy and therefore that much more expensive, maybe it makes sense to sell a separate, beefy AI hub that takes all that on, leaving the other devices lower priced, since the goal is to sell multiples of those, so that they can be distributed throughout the home.
Except this isn't even a rumor. Literally NO ONE other than this writer is suggesting that Apple is even considering getting back into the router business.
You didn't read the article very carefully. Take another look, and click on the Bloomberg link. I think you'll find that the source of the article is some nobody named Mark Gurman.
Comments
We are on pretty solid ground with accepting that Apple is working on an in-house modem; and it does make sense that it could be used for more than just replacing what they source from Broadcom.
Apple now brings much more to the table now vis-c-vis when they existed the home wifi market. Apple's clear long term flagship product is privacy, and I can see them levering this is some new products. An Apple branded VPN service maybe? Add that to Apple One? Build it into an Apple TV box too?
One of the more infuriating things about the HomePod is its integral power cord. I sure would like to use my HomePod mini away from 120v. If it had a cord set up like the iMac - with the power on the floor - with an ethernet port on it...well...think of the many possibilities. Would Apple enter the home cell internet business? All things equal, likely no...but add an Apple branded VPN?
Hope some of this comes to pass. The last Apple Airport Extremes are available on eBay for about $25. I have a few fun here, and they are iron horses. As others have said, they are reliable, and plenty fast for home use.