Apple's Smart Home Command Center: What We Know So Far

3 hours ago 1

Apple is working on a new Home accessory that is designed to serve as a central hub or "Command Center" for smart home management. The Apple TV and the HomePod are already home hubs and almost all Apple devices can control a HomeKit setup, but Apple is designing an all-in-one home management product to make control even easier.

This guide aggregates everything that we know about Apple's smart home hub.

Design

Apple's upcoming smart home product will somewhat resemble an iPad, and it will have an all-display design. It is expected to be square rather than rectangular, and it will measure in at six inches with thick bezels around the edges.

In terms of size, it will look similar to two iPhones that are side-by-side, and it will be small and lightweight to allow it to be moved from room to room. The device will support touch input for opening apps and controlling connected devices.

It will be able to be mounted on a wall, but Apple is also designing a dock that it can slot into that will let it sit on a table or desk. The desktop base could include additional speakers for playing music.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has suggested that the smart home device will have a hemispherical base similar to the iMac G4, with the small screen positioned at an angle on the base.

The original ‌iMac‌ G4

Built-in speakers will be included, and it will have a camera on the front for FaceTime and video calls, along with a rechargeable battery. Apple is planning two colors, including silver and black.

Sensors

The smart home hub will be able to determine how close a person is standing to it, adjusting features from there. When no one is nearby, for example, it might show the temperature, but as someone approaches, it could shift to an interface for adjusting the thermostat.

Person detection will likely allow it to be used in smart home automations for doing things like turning on the lights when someone enters a room. The sensor might be able to tell one person from another, and it could recognize hand gestures for longer range control.

Apple is also considering extra sensors that would plug into outlets throughout the home to interface with the hub, but it is not clear if these will be manufactured.

Chip

Apple's upcoming smart home accessory is expected to use an A18 chip for Apple Intelligence support. Given that ‌Apple Intelligence‌ requires 8GB RAM minimum, it will have at least 8GB RAM.

Interface

Apple does not plan to create a dedicated App Store for the home hub, but it will come with several apps pre-installed. The main view will be a customizable home screen with widgets that can show the weather, important home controls, photo slideshows, upcoming events, and more.

Bloomberg's ‌Mark Gurman‌ has described the interface as a mix between watchOS and the iPhone's StandBy mode. A software-based dock will be available for launching various apps, and it will support Siri.

Apple is planning to integrate ‌Siri‌ with ‌Apple Intelligence‌ for accessing and performing tasks in apps. By the time the device launches, the smarter version of ‌Siri‌ will be available, and will be able to control apps and tasks.

There will be a focus on controlling smart home products and also security, with Apple providing alerts and camera footage from connected smart home cameras.

Apps

Several Apple apps will be installed even though there won't be a dedicated ‌App Store‌. Apps that are rumored:

Safari

Apple News

Apple Music

Notes

Calendar

Photos

Home

Intercom

More than one of the devices can be used throughout the home, and two or more can serve as room-to-room intercoms.

AirPlay

With its built-in speakers, the device will support music playback and it will be able to work as an AirPlay receiver.

Future Smart Home Accessories

Apple is reportedly considering creating its own line of smart home accessories like an indoor security camera, but the company wants to see how the hub device does first. If that's successful, Apple could prioritize smart home products.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo thinks Apple is already working on a smart home camera that will be manufactured starting in 2026. Kuo says that Apple will sell "tens of millions" of these devices over the long term, with wireless connectivity and deep integration with ‌Siri‌ and ‌Apple Intelligence‌ planned.

Apple could have an edge with security cameras because of its focus on privacy. Privacy would be a focus, providing an alternative to cameras from companies like Ring and Nest.

Pricing

It's not clear what Apple will price the device at, but Amazon's similarly sized Echo Show costs $90. By keeping the display size small at six inches, Apple may be able to keep the price low and competitive with similar products.

Competition

An Apple-designed smart home management product with an integrated display would compete with other smart home devices from companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Google. Facebook, for example, makes the Meta Portal, a device that can control Alexa-based products and that allows for video calls with friends and family.

Amazon makes the Echo Show, a smart display with a speaker that comes in sizes up to 21 inches. It can be used for controlling smart home products, watching video, making calls, and more. Google offers the Nest Hub Max for streaming content, listening to music, and controlling products that integrate with the Google smart home system.

With almost all of Apple's major competitors offering an in-home device that is designed to serve as a hub for controlling smart home products and making calls, it's not hard to imagine a similar device from Apple.