Apple reportedly on track for late 2025 home hub launch
A leaker with an excellent track record says that Apple is still on track to release its first dedicated smart home controller with an iPad-like screen in the second half of 2025. Here's what to expect from the home hub.
A mockup of what an Apple home hub device could look like.
Mark Gurman's Power On newsletter on Sunday is the latest to chime in on a timeline for Apple's Home Hub. According to the newsletter, the new device, still expected in 2025, will be "the first step toward a bigger role in the smart home" and Apple's "most significant release of the year."
Previous reports from long-time Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo have suggested the home hub will enter mass production later this year. It is thought to include a high-quality speaker and camera for FaceTime calls, and could be sold as either wall-mountable or with a standalone base as desired.
Apple is thought to also be bringing out supplementary smart home accessories, such as dedicated indoor security cameras and a doorbell that can use Face ID, also according to the newsletter.
Rumors suggest previously said that the device will sport an A18 chip and at least 8GB of RAM, so as to run Apple Intelligence. The expected built-in camera and mic may also double as a security camera itself.
The device is expected to unify the company's push for a much-improved Siri home assistant, use of the Thread and Matter standards for control of smart home devices, and its existing Home software interface. It remains to be seen if Apple will include any iCloud storage offers for security footage.
Rounding up the rumors
The purpose of the device would be to leverage an improved Siri and on-screen widgets to act as a master control for smart home devices, similar to how the Home app on other Apple devices works now.
That said, the home hub is expected to work with nearly any third-party device that supports the Matter and Thread secure communication standards. It would leverage Apple Intelligence and Siri for automation and control, and possibly run on a dedicated "homeOS" with a focus on widget-based controls for individual devices.
Matter is a key standard that will allow the home hub to work with third-party devices.
It's unclear if the new device will use the HomePod branding as suggested by earlier rumors, or move to an entirely new name, such as "Apple HomeHub." It would be Apple's entry into a market currently dominated by Amazon's Echo Show and Google's Nest Hub.
Commands could also be given to the device using Siri on existing Apple devices, from the iPhone to the HomePod, so that users who are away or in another part of the home could still control the hub. Apple is also rumored to be launching a new lineup of HomePod minis in the second half of 2025.
A price target for the home hub has not yet been suggested in the various rumors, apart from claims that the base unit would be significantly less expensive than an iPad.
Rumor Score: Likely
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
We have been over this before. If Apple is going to launch this platform, they need to have the requisite software infrastructure in place. Not just HomePod's OS but also iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, etc. It would be well documented with multiple APIs so third party developers would be able to access the environment.
We know that infrastructure does not exist at this point. Thus, if Apple unveils this infrastructure at WWDC 2025 in June, then it should considered an upcoming release. But until Apple unveils this software backbone, it's just pure speculation. And not just one paragraph in a press release. It would be several APIs, lots of documentation, source code examples, WWDC breakout sessions, etc. And if indeed it's some sort of hardware device, most likely there would be engineering samples/dev kits loaned out to the bigger players for development purposes (under NDA until Apple launches the thing).
Apple cannot just release some sort of Home Control controller or touchpad without adequate and robust software support.
Apple doesn't just upload a press release to PRNewswire and it becomes a done deal.
We will know in June if this is going to happen. If they announce nothing, you can mothball this rumor for another 17 months (until June 2026). It's rather silly to speculate on this now since there is little indication of any meaningful development.
Personally, I think Apple has more than it can handle with Apple Intelligence right now based on the way they have metered out new features. Any sort of home control integration project is likely several years away. Hell, Apple can't even offer synchronized Apple Intelligence feature parity on both iPhones and Macs right now (e.g., Genmoji on Sequoia is still Work In Progress).
It's important to stress that Apple can't just release it and say "Come and get it." It's not 2017 anymore when the HomePod was announced. Today's consumers have far higher expectations on what home control systems should do in 2025. These controllers must support a much larger variety of devices from various manufacturers today than 7-8 years ago. It's not just some smart speaker controlling your Nest thermostat or telling Alexa to add toothpaste to your next Amazon order.
Since you don’t actually know what it is, how can you be so confident that you have no use for it?
Hell, I work from home and my Mac mini M2 Pro rarely breaks a sweat. My guess is that 98% of the time it is under 5% CPU utilization. And I'm composing this response on my Mac.
Actually speaking to a Watch and have it relay instructions to your phone makes the most sense since your phone is the device in your house that is most likely going to be connected to the network (home network, cellular data, broadband Internet, whatever).
Again, this new proposed home controller device needs to differentiate itself and do something (more like 2-3 things) better than your phone can.
I can see the argument for putting an Apple Intelligence-capable SoC in an AppleTV box for this purpose. I'm having a harder time seeing any value-add from a dedicated device at this time, especially one that forces you to get out of your chair. Consumers in 2025 are lazy, they don't want to stand up and walk to the thermostat. Standing up and walking to some Home Control touchscreen panel is basically the same effort.
Hell, in some cases, the super fancy touchscreen device might be more intrusive and inconvenient. We're already seeing that in auto manufacturers put some vehicle functions back on dedicated controls because it's far more distracting having to go through a bunch of menus just to adjust the cabin temperature. So manufacturers are putting big dumb dials back in cars that can be operated with gloves/mittens safely in the dark.
My prediction is that in a few years, there will be a backlash against some of the home automation features and many people will move back to simpler manual controls just like they've clamored for less touchscreen nonsense in vehicles. Programmable home thermostats for zone-based climate control? Sure, I get that. Controlling window shades in a smallish house? Not so sure about the value-add there.
So not only would this purported Home Control touchpanel need to be better in multiple ways than your iPhone, it would also need to be better in multiple ways than an iPad mounted on the wall.
If Apple wants its home ecosystem to see high adoption rates, they can’t require everyone with HomePods and AppleTVs to replace all of their existing hardware with new, more expensive versions before it’s possible to use AI and AI-powered Siri for that home ecosystem.
For sure anything with a touchscreen display and an Apple logo is going to cost as much as the cheapest iPad. How would this device be any better than an iPad, especially if it is meant to be fixed on a wall? It would probably still need some sort of battery in case of a power failure so it's not like COGS will be cheaper.
It makes more sense to put an Apple Intelligence SoC in a device like AppleTV that is intended to stay at home or simply just run the home control software on an Apple Silicon desktop Mac. The Home Control UI can exist anywhere: iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, Mac, AVP, whatever.
Remember that the smartphone is the driver of all consumer technology in today's world. If I can already control a bunch of home functions from my phone, whatever that replaces it must do 2-3 things considerably better than the iPhone. The Apple Watch did this for health monitoring and activity tracking.
There is no clear differentiated value-add to a standalone Home Control touchscreen device, especially at the gross margins one would expect from Apple. And they aren't going to ship a headless $30 stick like a Roku that you plug into a socket to control your house.
And beyond that, how does Apple monetize the service? Do they charge $20/month for home control features? Is it an an additional tier to Apple One or maybe an add-on feature? And as far as I can tell, Apple still relies on third-party companies to provide the various devices to connect with. Frankly I would be more convinced if there were 4-5 other similar devices made by major competitors on the market already. There's an Amazon Echo smart home console for $180. I'd expect a comparable Apple unit to start at $399.
Which leads to the obvious question: how would an Apple home control console be any better than one from a well-known competitor (Amazon, Google/Nest, Samsung, whatever)?
There are still a lot of unanswered questions and uncertainty about how such a device would be worth it to Joe Consumer. I'm not saying it won't ever come, I'm just doubtful that it will happen this year or next.
Apple is struggling to get Apple Intelligence launched in a meaningful way on iPhone so far. Any home control effort is going to drain brain resources from their Apple Intelligence efforts. Apple Intelligence needs to work well and be useful on iPhones first. That is Apple's top priority because iPhone is their cash cow (still represents 50% of Apple revenue). Apple doesn't even have enough engineering resources to provide Apple Intelligence feature parity on Macs; Apple Intelligence on macOS Sequoia trails iOS 18 substantially.
Apple has had mixed success with pure play and devices with limited usage cases. And it's far harder in 2025 when consumers expect these devices to do more. Apple had obvious difficulties describing what true benefits the Apple Watch had when it debuted in 2015. A few years later, Apple had honed in on its health monitoring and activity tracking features and the device really found its place.
I foresee a similar challenge for Apple in marketing a home control console device. It's worth pointing out that Apple has abandoned a bunch of markets where pure play and limited usage cases stunt growth: printers (LaserWriter), WiFi routers (AirPort), music players (iPod), and more. Some of this is just the changing nature of consumer technology and the expectations of consumers. In some cases the product category becomes a commodity.
Dedicated home terminal screens have the advantage that they would stay at home, and they can ‘live’ semi-permanently in whatever part of the house the user wants. Many people set their iPhone down when they get home, and don’t carry them around. This can make them inconvenient as home device controllers if the phone has been left in another part of the house. Having a few dedicated home control terminal screens can solve that problem.
-Display karaoke lyrics so you can face the couch/guests while your singing, using its own speaker and/or other homepods
-Monitor + talk to pets/babysitter
-Screen follows you around (hinge/swivel) when your hands are occupied (e.g. hands full when coming home, cooking recipes, FaceTime that follows you around the kitchen, etc..)
-Photobooth mode at parties (assuming the front camera is good enough)
-It would have different personalities, with their own voice, response style, and movements (e.g. pixar lamp, British butler, kid-oriented personality, famous people)
--This might actually be kind of fun. I talk to my dog all the time for fun, why not Einstein AI or Steve Irwin AI? gab.ai already lets you pick a character to answer questions in their style/tone, like historical or political figures, and I'm sure there are other AIs out there doing this already too.