Apple Camera due in 2026 -- but Home Hub may get delayed

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in Future Apple Hardware edited January 12

The expected Apple Home Hub that was believed to be coming in March may now ship later, claims a new report that also backs up rumors that Apple is working on a home camera.

Tablet showing music player on the left and smart home controls on the right, resting on a patterned surface.
Mockup of a possible Apple Home Hub



Rumors of Apple aiming to expand its home and particularly smart home offerings have chiefly centered on what's been described as a Home Hub. It's expected to have an iPad-like screen and may have the body of a HomePod.

Now according to Bloomberg, the Home Hub will feature a 7-inch screen, and will run on a new operating system codenamed Pebble. Despite being a new operating system, perhaps the previously-rumored homeOS, the Home Hub will reportedly make extensive use of App Intents, that will come with the iPhone's iOS 18.4 and iOS 19.

App Intents is a system here developers can offer features of their apps to iOS and so allow other apps or other devices to benefit from them. It's not known what specific App Intents the Home Hub could use, although it's highly likely that it will include features from within Apple's own Home app.

Nonetheless, the fact that it will rely on App Intents means that it's possible the Home Hub will not now be released before iOS 19. That is due to be announced at WWDC 2025, but it won't be publicly released until around September.

That's in line with the latest expectations about Apple Intelligence's revision of Siri. The new report backs up claims that a revamped Siri with AI features will be released in the spring of 2026.

Then 2026 is also now expected to be when Apple introduces a home security camera -- and a doorbell with a Face ID camera.

Rumor Score: Likely

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    Xedxed Posts: 2,952member
    Until a product is given a release date or timeframe it can't really be delayed from our PoV.  "Believed to be coming in March" doesn't mean that Apple had anything more than a desire to announce then, and that assumes that the product will absolutely be announced.
    thtmike1jas99
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  • Reply 2 of 13
    olsols Posts: 52member
    Why would Apple start offering a camera? All sensors they use are bought in and besides what shall this new product range bring to the game?

    perhaps I am a little old to understand…
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 3 of 13
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,159member
    If the reports of what this is and what it is to be for are true, I shan't be a launch day customer. YMMV; and I'm happy for you if you find a use for such a thing. 
    edited January 12
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  • Reply 4 of 13
    Xedxed Posts: 2,952member
    ols said:
    Why would Apple start offering a camera? All sensors they use are bought in and besides what shall this new product range bring to the game?

    perhaps I am a little old to understand…
    I would imagine better security and more seamless integration than competitors can offer. Many on this forum, myself included, lament Apple backing out of the consumer router market right when customers started to realize that they needed more stable and faster home routers with improved security and increased ease of use. If Apple had created a mesh router system I think it could've been excellent. If they want to build a doorbell cam I think it would be excellent. I'd even like to see dash cam from Apple, but I doubt that will ever happen.
    edited January 12
    AppleZulujas99
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  • Reply 5 of 13
    I’ve always thought Apple should create a high end DSLR that works seamlessly with the rest of their ecosystem.  The camera itself could be “dumb” just take great pictures and let photographers perform post processing on iOS or MacOS.
    edited January 12
    tiredskills
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  • Reply 6 of 13
    AppleZuluapplezulu Posts: 2,265member
    eightzero said:
    If the reports of what this is and what it is to be for are true, I shan't be a launch day customer. YMMV; and I'm happy for you if you find a use for such a thing. 
    Good to know. 
    williamlondonJaphey
     2Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 7 of 13
    AppleZuluapplezulu Posts: 2,265member

    Xed said:
    ols said:
    Why would Apple start offering a camera? All sensors they use are bought in and besides what shall this new product range bring to the game?

    perhaps I am a little old to understand…
    I would imagine better security and more seamless integration than competitors can offer. Many on this forum, myself included, lament Apple backing out of the consumer router market right when customers started to realize that they needed more stable and faster home routers with improved security and increased ease of use. If Apple had created a mesh router system I think it could've been excellent. If they want to build a doorbell cam I think it would be excellent. I'd even like to see dash cam from Apple, but I doubt that will ever happen.
    Given their positioning on privacy and security, I think there would be value in Apple offering their own hardware for the most sensitive categories, particularly microphones, cameras and routers. Even with third-party cameras functioning directly on the Apple Home system, you have to wonder a bit. 
    ForumPostmike1
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  • Reply 8 of 13
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,679member
    For now it all sounds like vaporware.

    First "it's coming soon", then "maybe a delay to the end of this year", then maybe later in 2026, or maybe 2027. Or not at all. It's going to do such and such and look like this and that, then a new "report" claims things are going to take a different path. Maybe by late this year, what's real and what's just wishful thinking will be more evident. 
    ramanpfaff
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  • Reply 9 of 13
    Xedxed Posts: 2,952member
    gatorguy said:
    For now it all sounds like vaporware.

    First "it's coming soon", then "maybe a delay to the end of this year", then maybe later in 2026, or maybe 2027. Or not at all. It's going to do such and such and look like this and that, then a new "report" claims things are going to take a different path. Maybe by late this year, what's real and what's just wishful thinking will be more evident. 
    It is vaporware until it's demoed. Apple almost always demos when they announce, which is great; but even a demo can get canned before it ever gets released, like AirPower, which is a rarity for Apple. Personally, I never put stock in a product until there's something official — not just because things can change for a variety for reasons (like AirPowerr) but also because R&D doesn't equate to an eventual product release (like the Apple Car). If AI somehow get a dump of everything Apple was secretly doing R&D on they'd surely have many dozens of potential products and upgrades to report on.
    jas99
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  • Reply 10 of 13
    AppleZuluapplezulu Posts: 2,265member

    yyzguy said:
    I’ve always thought Apple should create a high end DSLR that works seamlessly with the rest of their ecosystem.  The camera itself could be “dumb” just take great pictures and let photographers perform post processing on iOS or MacOS.
    I’m not sure what the point of that would be. Professionals and “serious” amateurs already have high-end “dumb” cameras, meaning they’re selecting a lens specific to the intended shot and shooting in manual mode (photographer chooses ISO, exposure, and f-stop) and saving to RAW files (sensor data is saved uncompressed and unaltered). They then do all of the post processing (digital version of what used to happen in the darkroom) on a computer. 

    Unless there’s significantly unique tech in their sensor and optics designs for iPhone that would be transferable to full size cameras and lenses, it’d be hard for them to compete in an already narrow, competitive pro gear market. Since much of the innovation for the iPhone’s cameras is in maximizing capabilities for short, flat lenses and tiny sensors, that seems doubtful. 

    Apple’s forté in photography has been to vastly improve the consumer/amateur camera space by coupling high-end optics with a lot of computational power and putting it in everyone’s pocket. The average person now gets vastly better pictures than people were getting a generation ago with their snaps developed at the local photo-mat. That still doesn’t really transfer to the pro market. 

    [Also, know-it-all side note: DSLR=digital single lens reflex= optical viewfinder sees directly through the camera lens via a periscope mirror that physically flips out of the way when the shutter button is depressed, allowing the lens to expose light to the digital sensor, positioned where film used to be in an SLR camera. With the advent of sufficiently fast, high resolution screens in both the viewfinder and on the back of the camera, most high-end gear has done away with the optical mirrored mechanism. This sheds weight and camera size. You’ll see them referred to as “mirrorless” cameras rather than DSLRs.] 
    ForumPostmuthuk_vanalingamAlex1Ngatorguyramanpfaffmike1
     5Likes 0Dislikes 1Informative
  • Reply 11 of 13
    jdgazjdgaz Posts: 408member
    Cook needs to light a fire under his troops. Constant delays are simply not acceptable. 
    thtwilliamlondon
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  • Reply 12 of 13
    Given Apple released the QuickTake digital camera decades back, I’ve been expecting them to release a Stereo (3D) camera since they introduced the Vision Pro and showed how amazing 3D videos can be on such a device.

    They have made what is clearly a compromise toward that idea with the latest iPhones, but a dedicated 3D camera, with the lenses a more sensible distance apart, would make more sense.
    williamlondon
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  • Reply 13 of 13
    DAalsethdaalseth Posts: 3,122member
    Xed said:
    Until a product is given a release date or timeframe it can't really be delayed from our PoV.  "Believed to be coming in March" doesn't mean that Apple had anything more than a desire to announce then, and that assumes that the product will absolutely be announced.
    Believed to be coming in March means nothing. Apple may not even be working on a product like this. Rumours have a way of feeding on each other and creating whole storylines out of thin air. X says something will happen. Y repeats the rumour they picked up from X. X uses Y’s report to “confirm” their earlier prediction. Unless Apple officially announces something I put no credence in any of it. 
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