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Apple May Launch First iPad-Like Smart Home Accessory Next Year

I think there's an opportunity here, but $1000 will be too much for a smart home device.

Currently, I am struggling with Alexa. All of a sudden, 75% of my Hue lights stopped working with Alexa. I tried resetting everything and for some reason Alexa wont let me delete my old hue lights with device discovery off. Every time I delete them, they come back. My lights work perfectly in the Hue App and Apple HomeKit. I just bought one of those Alexa wall tablets but now I'm thinking about ditching Amazon. The app is still a mess. If feel like Amazon has become complacent with it's smart home stuff. Homebridge has been working well for me and HomeKit.
 
lusty said:
That one is simple, the mission went from "make things work" to "Make things subscription".

The iPhone was a success because it did things we all wanted to do. Many of those things are actually harder today because Apple wedged a subscription between us and doing something.
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I used to love iTunes/Music on my iPhone. I got so tired of the Apple Music subscription prompting that I just ignore the app now. It's killed all interest.
 
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goobot said:
And when it’s overpriced Apple will silently abandon it like AirPods Max
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It does feel like Apple is abandoning the AirPods Max, isn't it? I mean, why is this latest iteration still using an old H1 chip and not the newer one? AirPods Max was overpriced when it first came and and came with a very stupid carrying case (still does have that case in the latest version, right?).
 
I am sorry but CarPlay 2, Vision Pro, iPhone 16, and now this? Smells like desperation, the marketing people have taken over the firm. The category, personal computing, is beyond mature.

Selling the shares now.
 
Whatever this new product will be... I'll be sure to add it to the list of other devices Apple introduced along with the resulting flop proclamations: iPod, iPhone, iPad, Watch, AirPods, etc.
 
SanderEvers said:
Why make an entire new device category, if you can just use existing iPads. For example an older model. To do exactly the same thing?
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I suspect that it might depend on whether voice interactions are important to you. That seems to me to be an area where the smart speaker market has gone backwards. (I’m considering this rumoured new device as a smart speaker with display which is why I’m lumping it in with other smart speakers.) When the first Amazon Echo device came out it had a 7 microphone array but over time the mic arrays seem to have got smaller. I suspect that, even with the best software, voice recognition becomes more accurate with an array of high quality mics especially in noisy environments. I find it really frustrating when my smart speakers don’t immediately recognise the wake word or ask me to repeat myself when I ask them something which is why I mostly use Amazon Echo devices now, their voice recognition works better for me, even though I find Google’s AI noticeably better.

Personally I think that all the major players in the smart speaker market are failing right now - Amazon, Google/Nest and Apple. Apple‘s efforts so far do not inspire me with confidence but if it can pull off a surprise and come up with a range of products that leapfrog Amazon and Google’s smart speakers/displays then I’d happily buy into that if it gave me rock solid voice recognition, AI at least at the level of Google Assistant, and for devices with a display the ability to actually configure that display to show info relevant to me rather than Amazon Echo’s very restricted options.
 
I don't like talking to my devices, so that might count. I have a very simple remote here, that controls all my 'smart' home stuff with the press of a button. No microphones that always record audio, no camera's. Just a button.

And then again, Apple could've added this to iOS / iPadOS. Made a cute dock/speaker thing to put in your house and then place an (older) iPad or iPhone on that dock. There really is no need to make a device that looks like an iPad, but is only for home automation.
 
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Apple needs to be careful not to limit the functionality, particularly ability to run other apps. With many best-of-class smart home products not supporting the Apple Home ecosystem, one often needs third-party apps (e.g. Google Home, Alexa, Nest, etc.) to control a Smart Home. This integration with alternative systems needs to be supported on any such device that Apple deploys.

Given the failure of the market to support Apple Home with best-of-class products in many areas, Apple also needs to develop and sell their own line of smart home products, similar to what Google and Amazon do.

-R
 
So instead of creating an app that can run on all their devices to do this, they will first come out with a device that you have to purchase on top of all that stuff just to access them? And I have to walk to where the thing is plugged in to access it? It needs a better purpose, put some controllers on either side of it and make it a casual gaming device that can also control your home and other devices or it will just end up where all the remotes are that aren't getting used.
 
Why MacRumors reports on the dog **** that Gurman keeps putting out there is beyond me. I can predict apple products out of my butt than this guy. This device will never come to fruition.
 
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Currently use an old iPad for this purpose a couple times a year its needed. Would be nice to customize the OS a bit more for this purpose but a standalone product would have to be under 300 to be remotely interesting.
 
How about telling us who Bloomberg and Gurman are citing as sources? Oh that’s right, they don’t actually have any. But keep driving people to their newsletter.
 
nt5672 said:
The hope is that someone at Apple will read the tea leaves and stop doing the stupid stuff.
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Anyone who reads tea leaves should not have a say at what someone else should do.

Personally I wish my HomePod mini had a screen for music selection, plus I want a native screen to run my home automation. I no longer have the inclination to program Home Assistant and have to learn to write code for it.

This would do it.
 
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BallparkDreamer said:
Let me just reconfigure my iPad mini with some sort of speaker stand. Similar to the Google tablet.
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Which was a flop btw. If you remember they allowed and sold docking solutions for iPhones/iPods. That died.

I suspect this will
  • Run TVOS
  • Be a music station
  • FaceTime and hopefully work with FaceTime as a continuity camera on the AppleTV.
  • HomeKit controller. Which is what HomeKit needs more than anything.
I do not suspect this will
  • Run iPadOS
  • Have access to the greater iPad App Store.
 
Pezimak said:
It’s basically an iPad and Apple will charge far too much for it. Amazon grew its smart home devices, Apple is just jumping in both feet first. I do believe there is still no confirmation if any of Apples current smart home speakers will actually run the new Apple AI. I’m going to guess not? They’ll try to make you buy this new device for that instead which I bet will cost from 5 or 600.
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I’ll pick one up for $5.
 
nt5672 said:
Not my day to be your nanny. If you don't known, you don't want to know.
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I'm kind if the same. I don’t have a problem using Apple Software. Most people don’t. I think even for older people (I’m guessing you are old given your response, but maybe not?? ) Apple software is intuitive. However it appears that you’ve been struggling with technology. So without being a nanny, can you give examples of what problems you are having. Plenty of help available on forums like this.
 
iToph said:
another useless device. "Hey Siri, turn on the light" "Sorry I can't find a song named turn on the light"
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Siri is so infuriating, she's funny. I haven't used any of the beta releases, but any improvements will be welcome.
 
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