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Apple Pushes Back HomeKit Launch to August or September

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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple has pushed back the target release date of its home automation platform, HomeKit. According to a new report from Fortune that cites sources involved with the program, the May-June target launch date has shifted to late August or September.

HomeKit, announced at last year's Worldwide Developers Conference, is Apple's platform that links multiple home automation devices together with a single set of protocols to allow them to be controlled through the Apple ecosystem. Apple has demoed HomeKit just once, back in June, and at the time, the company did not give a prospective release date.

Many manufacturers began preparing HomeKit-compatible products following the initial debut of the platform, and several of those were shown off at CES. iDevices, for example, introduced a HomeKit-enabled smart plug, while Schlage demoed its "Schlage Sense" smart lock designed to work with HomeKit.

At CES, many of the companies gave prospective spring release dates for their products, leading us to believe that HomeKit was perhaps going to debut during April or May, but Fortune's sources say HomeKit is not quite ready for an official launch. Apple may, however, show off the platform again in the near future, perhaps at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference alongside an updated Apple TV.
Sources close to the situation say Apple is planning a smaller announcement around HomeKit in the near term, but not the official launch. Apparently, making it easy to sign in and get your devices (door locks, light blubs, et cetera) online is much harder to do than Apple anticipated. One source says the code base associated with that part of the process "blew up" and required way too much memory for smaller, battery-powered devices, so Apple is trying to shrink the code back down to size.
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HomeKit promises to make a major advance towards a introducing a fully connected home, using the Apple TV as an automation hub and relying on Siri for simple voice commands to control hardware in the home. With HomeKit-enabled products, Apple's voice assistant Siri can be asked to perform tasks like "Close the garage," "Turn off the lights," or "Lower the temperature."

When HomeKit is ready to launch, manufacturers will have a wide selection of products available that will work with the system. Apple finalized its HomeKit specification in October and is working with several notable partners include Philips and Honeywell, among others.

Update 1:11 PM PT: In a statement provided to The Wall Street Journal, Apple has refuted rumors of delays, stating that the first HomeKit accessories will launch next month. That suggests HomeKit will indeed see its official debut in the near future, perhaps at the Worldwide Developers Conference.
"HomeKit [hardware certification] has been available for just a few months and we already have dozens of partners who have committed to bringing HomeKit accessories to market and we're looking forward to the first ones coming next month," said Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller.
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Article Link: Apple Pushes Back HomeKit Launch to August or September
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/05/14/homekit-launch-pushed-back/
Carplay and homekit have both taken much longer than we were led to believe...

I'm still excited for both, even If we won't see either in a major way before 2017 at this rate...
 
currocj said:
Lame. Get your act together apple, you have 200B large in the bank
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HomeKit has been "available" to developers for less than a year and unlike other updates to the SDK, it requires new hardware to truly be effective. Apple's cash balance doesn't mean much when HomeKit requires 3rd party companies to define and develop entirely new hardware/software products to utilize it. Of course it's going to take some time.
 
I've been holding out for homekit enabled products. I'm really excited for home automation products to just work.
 
I was hoping for an updated ATV update with homekit features. Does this mean that is a no go for WWDC?
 
shouldn't change anything for appletv, might just delay the amount of devices that can fully take advantage of HK
 
Eh. I'd rather see them get it right than get it out a few months sooner.

With the delay, of course, now they really really need to get it right.
 
Good things take time

I'm glad Apple is taking the time to make sure this all rolls out properly. Obviously what's rolled out for developers vs. what's rolled out for customers are two very different things. By giving crucial developers a couple more months, it should hopefully provide time to show how useful this platform can be to all parties involved. This is a very opened and welcome thing that will make our devices ever more useful.
 
Vanilla Face said:
I've been holding out for homekit enabled products. I'm really excited for home automation products to just work.
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Yeah I think we can forget the whole notion of the Apple TV as a home hub.

I mean if you think about it, the Time Capsule is the perfect platform for an all in one: Apple TV - Home Hub - Router - Media Server - NAS - Time Machine.

They just don't think that way. Different devices, different connectors, different dongles = more revenue.
 
ohsnaphappy said:
Yeah I think we can forget the whole notion of the Apple TV as a home hub.

I mean if you think about it, the Time Capsule is the perfect platform for an all in one: Apple TV - Home Hub - Router - Media Server - NAS - Time Machine.

They just don't think that way. Different devices, different connectors, different dongles = more revenue.
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Your average Joe is not capable of buying and setting up a router especially if they are already paying Comcast 5 bucks a month for theirs.

Average Joe can connect a box to a television with a Hdmi port.
 
Lord Hamsa said:
Eh. I'd rather see them get it right than get it out a few months sooner.

With the delay, of course, now they really really need to get it right.
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How can something be delayed when the company developing it hasn't said when it will be available? Just because some 3rd party think it'll be ready by a certain time doesn't mean it will be.
 
bmunge said:
HomeKit has been "available" to developers for less than a year and unlike other updates to the SDK, it requires new hardware to truly be effective. Apple's cash balance doesn't mean much when HomeKit requires 3rd party companies to define and develop entirely new hardware/software products to utilize it. Of course it's going to take some time.
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Great post. Some people really need to understand how HomeKit works before posting. Its not on Apples side, but waiting for manufacturers to come out with products that utilize it.
 
MacRumors said:
According to a new report from Fortune that cites sources involved with the program, the May-June target launch date has shifted to late August or September.
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Well, just like every spring launch of a new iPhone that's "delayed" until September, this lines up nicely with a new version of iOS, which, and I'm just guessing here folks, probably will have an App that helps configure all of these things.

Sure, sure, Apple could have put that App in a version update to iOS 8, but it's probably been designated all along as a key iOS 9 feature.

Oh, that May-June launch date? Why that's WWDC range when the feature would probably be announced as part of iOS 9, so both times are probably on target.
 
Apparently, making it easy to sign in and get your devices (door locks, light blubs, et cetera) online is much harder to do than Apple anticipated. One source says the code base associated with that part of the process "blew up" and required way too much memory for smaller, battery-powered devices, so Apple is trying to shrink the code back down to size.
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So I assume this is code that would be on the HomeKit compatible chip on the devices themselves (and not iOS/controller devices)? Hopefully this doesn't force a change in requirements for HomeKit chips (like the ones Broadcom finally got approval from Apple on just recently), thus necessitating changes to those.

I'm all for the most efficient code (and plenty of headroom).
 
bmunge said:
HomeKit has been "available" to developers for less than a year and unlike other updates to the SDK, it requires new hardware to truly be effective. Apple's cash balance doesn't mean much when HomeKit requires 3rd party companies to define and develop entirely new hardware/software products to utilize it. Of course it's going to take some time.
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Lots of companies in lots of industries send in 'in-house' engineers to 3rd party companies for design and implementation.

Apple could certainly throw a bunch of product engineers who are experts on HomeKit at these partner companies to speed up the process.
 
HomeKit has the potential to revolutionise (home) life as we all know it, realising the full potential of the Internet of Things in the most user friendly of ways.

A short delay to get it right is well worth the wait.

At the risk of showing my age, this is the kind of stuff we could only imagine as kids.
 
Lord Hamsa said:
Eh. I'd rather see them get it right than get it out a few months sooner.

With the delay, of course, now they really really need to get it right.
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Do you remember when they delayed the roll-out of their iPhone Notifications system? When they finally launched it, they had gotten it right. I trust that they are doing the same thing here... aiming to get it right.
 
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