Apple to Launch AI-Powered Home 'Command Center' as Soon as March 2025

[Jett0516]

Please no notch.

 

[kmm333]

Google had the right idea with the Pixel Tablet + Charging Speaker Dock. Many people leave their iPads at home anyway, so why not make a magnetic dock that doubles as a HomePod? A purpose built “command center” seems odd, especially if the iPad has all of the same capability (and then some).

 

[DotCom2]

I just dumped all my Echos including the large screen-based one because it's nothing but advertisements now.

Yeah, me too!

 

[npmacuser5]

Not sure why I would need one. I already have my Apple Watch and iPhone with or near me at all times. Both devices accomplish the tasks so far. See what they deliver.

 

[Rychiar]

The Apple Car was literally shuttered, and the Vision Pro isn't meeting Apple's own targets.

the Vision Pro could be the most amazing thing in the world and it would never sell to more than hardcore fanboys and industry at $3500. the car never launched. so how could it fail. they decided it wouldn't work and shifted gears🤷‍♂️ and HomePods did fine once they brought the price down. I have 5 of them

 

[jecowa]

Just make a wall mount for the iPad and be done. This is crazy having so many different Apple devices that are almost the same but different.

Maybe its a gimped iPad, so they can sell it at a lower price without eating into their iPad sales.

 

[picpicmac]

it is square rather than rectangular

... and then the key-post proceeds to embed an image of a rectangular display.

 

[uacd]

I have a suggestion for Apple’s sales department: release this stuff for latest iPads as a free app, advertise iPad as “home control”, get double the sales. This device would be quite risky investment that could have no potential buyers, even riskier than Apple Car (failed) project or AVP

 

[jclardy]

Apple seems to be losing the plot.

Nah - Apple Intelligence on a homepod/apple TV is probably one of the best possible use cases for AI. Smart Home products have been terrible because every provider insists on a cloud connection for each individual light bulb, and none of the products can communicate to each other. "AI", specifically local on-device AI, is the perfect application for this, it can easily come up with common automations, figure out your regular patterns and eventually start to actually do things for you.

 

[Attirex]

So...it's an iPad with a gimped OS. yay?

 

[GaryT48]

This would be welcomed, currently use iPads in several rooms.

 

[Admiral Fart]

I’m the first to gripe about Apple, but I think this could be cool. Vision Pro is a joke, Homepod is useless because Siri is an idiot, the Apple Car was always doomed to failure, but this could be a mass market hit product if done right. The improvements to Siri will need to be real and substantial for this to succeed, however, regardless of anything else.

Just guessing, but I think this would be a cheaper product, designed so that placement in multiple rooms will be semi-affordable. It’s not an iPad, it will be significantly less expensive with much better sound. Of course, this is Apple, so maybe it will cost $1500.

 

[darthbane2k]

This will fail like the HomePod, Apple Car and Apple Vision Pro.

Why will it fail? I can see everyone invested in homekit buying one.

 

[npmacuser5]

If it’s better than Siri on HomePods, that’s at least a step in the right direction.
Would be nice if it can be magnetically attached to the fridge

I rarely use my HomePod for Siri. Mostly I just push my Apple Watch crown or use the Home App on the watch to control devices. Want more information, use my iPhone that is with me most of the time. The watch and iPhone are big advantages for me using Apple Home Systems.

 

[ignatius345]

I've always wanted something that would function as a dedicated music control device, that would just show the album art of what's playing. A square display would work really well for this. I have a feeling this will be like a $500 device, though, so in the end it might not be for me.

I know, one could use an iPad, but... it just ends up looking like an iPad. I'd love something purpose-built and polished looking.

 

[turbineseaplane]

"Here's what I found for you on the web"

(gives you something hallucinated out of ChatGPT)

 

[TonyC28]

I’m not sure what a screen brings to the table here. Siri/AI needs to get wayyyyy smarter in the home space, with a major focus on simplifying and improving automations.

 

[kirky29]

This certainly sounds interesting to me! I use an old tablet, wall mounted, running Home Assistant from a Raspberry Pi.

 

[sunny5]

iPad is already a great solution as I saw several apartment using it as a hub. How will they gonna make it to distinguish from iPad?

 

[Rogifan]

How is this different than an iPad?

 

[Agile55]

I've always wanted something that would function as a dedicated music control device, that would just show the album art of what's playing. A square display would work really well for this. I have a feeling this will be like a $500 device, though, so in the end it might not be for me.

I know, one could use an iPad, but... it just ends up looking like an iPad. I'd love something purpose-built and polished looking.

agreed but w/ the selfish caveat that it could communicate w/ my Sonos Arc Ultra AND Spotify but the latter is highly doubtful 🥱

 

[CloneBB]

They really need to change that wallpaper.

 

[chrono1081]

Amazon is (or already has?) squandered their lead. I've been an early adopter of their Echo ecosystem, right from the original Amazon Echo speaker. Their original implementation was ahead of the competition and I bought into it as a way to make my home "smart". Unfortunately after years of stagnation, they've fallen behind especially as LLMs have taken over, with rumors that they're having a tough time merging the latest LLM models with their legacy command system.

I'm looking forward to what Apple has to bring, especially as my phone, laptops and tablets are all in the Apple ecosystem already. Caveat being that they don't charge a subscription fee. I'd rather pay a larger amount upfront than have to pay for another subscription...

I was shocked how bad Amazon has become. HomeKit has a lot of flaws/issues but it's NOTHING compared to Alexa. A few of my friends legit switched after coming to my house and seeing HomeKit.

 

[dss33k]

Apple seems to be losing the plot.

My thoughts exactly. They’re now in “let’s throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” part of plan. Previously great innovative company, headed for ******tification. They’ll now nickel and dime us with “services” and cheap mass produced products churned out by Chinese sweatshops.

 

[redbeard331]

Hey Siri HomeCommand thingy, turn up the volume.

I’m sorry, I don’t see anyone in your contacts named Velma.