Apple's smart home hub reportedly arriving October 13th
Apple is expected to unveil its first smart home hub on October 13th, alongside a new HomePod mini and an upgraded Apple TV, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman reports that Apple will reveal its long-rumored smart home hub on October 13th. The announcement will reportedly also include a refreshed HomePod mini and an upgraded Apple TV device.
All three products are expected to highlight Siri AI, Apple's overhauled artificial intelligence assistant. The smart home hub represents an entirely new product category for the company and is said to be the centerpiece of the lineup.
Design and specifications
According to Gurman, the hub will feature a 6-inch display that can either be mounted on a wall or placed on a countertop. Its thickness is comparable to an iPhone, with bezels resembling those of older iPad models.
The device's appearance is said to evoke Apple's old iMac G4, featuring a round metal base housing speakers and microphones, connected to a metal arm that holds up the screen and allows it to tilt. Apple reportedly plans a second, wall-mounted variant with a thinner base for the audio components. The hub will run without an internal battery, relying instead on USB-C power, and will come in Apple's standard gray aluminum finish.
Software and capabilities
The new operating system built around Siri AI reportedly borrows heavily from iPad-style app design — for instance, the Messages app will use a two-panel layout. The hub is expected to let users control other smart home devices, make video calls, play music, display photo slideshows, and use intercom-style communication between rooms, with voice and facial recognition used to identify individual users.
