Apple Preparing Massive Smart Home Push With New AI Hub And Apple TV

Apple has been trailing in the smart home space, but according to Bloomberg’s Marc Gurman the company is ready to make a serious push with a slate of new devices powered by the newly revamped Siri. The lynchpin of this effort will be an AI infused home hub that’ll be sporting a design reminiscent of one of the most beloved Macs. The Apple TV will have a role to play, too, and will get its first refresh since 2022.

Classic Mac fans are in for a treat when the company takes the wraps off the new home hub. It’ll have a 6-inch display with rounded edges, be about as thin as an iPhone, come in the usual aluminum gray finish, and will be affixed to a dome that houses built-in speakers. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the design will be “reminiscent of the famous iMac G4 from 2002.” Although there’ll be a version comprised of only the display for those who want to wall mount the device.


Apple envisions the home hub as the center of the smart home, capable of serving every member of the household. The device will be able to identify a user by using either a camera for facial recognition or by analyzing someone’s voice. It will shift the kinds of content and applications it displays based on who happens to be using it. This includes calendar appointments, messages, notes alongside the way apps are laid out.

This new home hub won’t be the only device aimed at improving the smart home experience for those in the Apple ecosystem. The Apple TV set top box is getting an upgrade to be able to run the more powerful Siri, which likely means it’ll come with the A20 series chip that debuted earlier this year. Hopefully the company uses this as an opportunity to finally include long requested features by the home theater sickos, such as audio passthrough.

We should get a closer look at these new devices during Apple’s next rumored event on October 13.