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

[haemolysis]

Apple would have to prove their home control support actually works before I would consider getting a dedicated device.

I feel like every time I ask my homepod to turn the heater off it tells me no such device exists, it can search the web, it can't find a network connection, or, I'll have to unlock my iPhone first.

 

[anthony13]

This seems like it would be software restricted hardware. Even the base iPad could do 10 times what this would seemingly need to do. You’d literally be paying for whatever form factor (some sort of arm or built in stand I assume). But I’m curious if they have something special up their sleeves we haven’t thought of. The Phillips hue smart light switches have seemingly already accomplished much of what I would want this new product for.

 

[Benjamin61181]

Can‘t wait for the optional 199 $ wall mount and 249 $ speaker dock.

 

[DarthDon]

How is this different than an iPad?

Maybe a jelly edition?

 

[DarthDon]

Can‘t wait for the optional 199 $ wall mount and 249 $ speaker dock.

No expensive wheels? 🥲.

 

[ronno]

A new device that’s based on Apple Intelligence - which blows at the moment.
Sounds promising.

 

[lmddawson]

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

The Car was never fully developed and offered as a product so it's not fair to say it failed

 

[bjwhite3114]

I’m sorry but all I see are two butt cheeks.

 

[DrRadon]

No one needs another screen device. Just build this in the next Apple TV and make all the home kid devices smarter using the one chip as a hud.

 

[ipedro]

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

I have 2 Echo Show 9’s and a 15 on my wall and I’ve also noticed a steep increase in ads. You can turn them off but then you lose some of the benefits of seeing relevant Amazon notifications like deliveries.

I have an iPad on my wall but this new device seems like it’ll be capable of replacing the Echos. Can’t wait.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

No one needs another screen device. Just build this in the next Apple TV and make all the home kid devices smarter using the one chip as a hud.

Are businesses in business to consolidate and maximize your purchasing power?

 

[cutlub]

Apple has clearly lost the plot. Did you see the last quarter? Sales down across the board. They’re Cook-ed.

Everyone here hates Apple’s push into spatial computing. Everyone hates Apple Intelligence. Everyone hates everything Apple does. I’m genuinely curious what people want from Apple that will put them back on track. What is the next big thing only we at MR know about?

Did people really want a $100k Apple bus? The average cost to develop any car model is $4B. Yes, even a Yaris. $10B from Apple is a drop in the bucket. Did it work out? No. Was it a waste of R&D and knowledge gained? Can’t wait to hear thoughts.

 

[mansplains]

It had better have ethernet, as the Apple TV is the only option for a hardwired home hub.

This is how they'll bring Apple Intelligence to underpowered HomePods. It never made sense that a $99 HomePod mini would ever get 8GB of RAM and an advanced chip, but they also can't keep the dumb Siri experience because it's dragging down Siri's reputation, so a single HomePad (calling it!) will control your home and provide the horsepower for AI while lower powered devices like HomePod minis can be in different rooms.

Currently HomePod minis run Siri in the cloud but given how important privacy is to Apple's AI strategy, having the HomePad in your home with private data never leaving will solve that problem.

I wish there were some interim solution to the HomePod mini lack of improved Siri. Something like relaying any queries to your iPhone, and bouncing back. I could see HomePod mini connecting to this new hub in a similar fashion.

Introducing a new iPad with a very limited feature set and a few interesting/gimmicky features available only on this new device

As someone who is unapologetically all in on the HomeKit ecosystem, I will probably buy one

Same, and I'm very interested in how this device will manifest.

 

[NovaNation07]

The bezels tho.

 

[LightSwitch]

BATTERY. That’s what got my attention - Amazon Echo and Google Home don’t have a version of their devices with this feature yet.

 

[nicknicknickh]

Apple is planning to launch an AI-powered smart home display as soon as March 2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The display will measure in at approximately six inches, and while it is similar to an iPad, it is square rather than rectangular and it has thick bezels around the edges. There is a camera at the top front so that it can be used for FaceTime, plus there are internal speakers for playing music and a built-in rechargeable battery.

Apple will offer the hub in silver and black, and it will use a touch-based interface. The operating system will look like a mix of the iPhone's StandBy mode and watchOS, though it will primarily be controlled by voice. Apple plans to integrate Apple Intelligence for accessing apps and controlling smart home products, and it was designed around App Intents, a Siri system that will be able to control apps and tasks.

Apple designed a customizable home screen with widgets that can be used to show things like the weather and upcoming appointments, a photo slideshow, or important home controls. A software-based dock will be available for launching apps, and multiple systems in different rooms will work as intercoms. Apple plans to focus on security as well, providing alerts and camera footage from connected smart home cameras.

Built-in sensors will be able to determine how close a person is standing to the device, and it can adjust features from there. When no one is nearby, for example, it might show the temperature, but as someone approaches, it can switch to an interface for adjusting the thermostat, much like Nest thermostats. It could also detect how many people are nearby using external sensors that plug into outlets throughout the home, but Apple may or may not manufacture these extra sensors.

In addition to offering smart home controls and FaceTiming features, the device will include several Apple apps like Safari, Apple News, Apple Music, Notes, Calendar, and Photos, but there will not be a dedicated App Store. Apple is designing different attachments, such as a plate for attaching it to the wall and a base with additional speakers for using it in a central location in the home.

Apple plans to position the smart display as a "command center," with the aim of furthering Apple's position in the smart home market. The smart home hub has been in development for more than three years, and Apple CEO Tim Cook has been pushing the engineering and design teams to prioritize the device. It will be a standalone device, but it is meant to work in concert with other Apple products and will require an iPhone for setup.

With the smart home hub, Apple is looking to compete with Amazon and Google, who have similar devices. Amazon has the Echo Hub, and Google offers the Nest Hub Max. Apple will likely need to price the device similarly to these products, and the Echo Hub costs $150, while the Nest Hub Max costs $230.

While Apple has considered creating its own line of smart home accessories like an indoor security camera, it is not yet clear if the company will do so. Apple could get into accessories if the smart home display is a success. Earlier this week, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple was working on a smart home camera with wireless connectivity and deep integration with Apple Intelligence, with Apple planning to launch the device in 2026.

In the future, Apple plans to release a robotic version of the smart home hub that can move the screen around, Gurman reports.

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

Apple Intelligence has (so far) been as impressive as a paper straw. I'm not going to be suckered into buying a first generation Apple product that is going to rely on Apple Intelligence for what, like telling me the weather, the Celtics score, and turning on some lights? Yeah, give me a break.

 

[quietstormSD]

If Gurman is saying this, then it won't happen. The guy just throws spaghetti at the wall.

 

[heretiq]

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

Hmmm .. “double the sales” with a free “home control” app .. what am I missing? 🤔

 

[bLackjackj]

"Our THINNEST profit yet"!

 

[bLackjackj]

So it's an uglier version of an iPad Mini, with less power, thicker bezels and left over parts from the supply chain? Am I missing something..

 

[theinstructor]

Maybe they could spend their time and resources on making Home work first? Just a thought…

 

[Mescagnus]

How is this different than an iPad?

It's square.

 

[jamisonbaines]

i want the imac G4 style device with a custom home control software layer. needs to have audio on par with the full size homepod to seamlessly create a stereo pair. skip the battery and ffs give it an ethernet port. album art display when music is playing. video doorbell feed. wake the display by some method other than tapping the screen. add the home control software to ipads with some other options to cater to those who want to wall mount.

i have around 50 homekit accessories and want a solution that guests can use to adjust lights, music, etc without having to invite them to my homekit.

comments are littered with people who have an iphone and some airpods but everyone who’s heavily invested in homekit will buy this or buy multiple if they get it right without making it massively overpriced. $500 is the absolute max i’d consider.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

I’m not sure what a screen brings to the table here.

A touchscreen allows users to interact with the device using a method that, at the moment, still works better more often than voice control, and which most people are still more familiar with than using their voice. It can also show things to the user onscreen that are more difficult, at best, to convey if using only the device's voice, and those things can remain static onscreen until the user understands what's being conveyed, as opposed to the device's voice saying something which you might mishear or misunderstand, or you don't hear properly due to interruptions by events happening around you, etc., and getting it to say that thing again might not be as easy as just looking at the screen.

A screen also allows the device to double as another method and location for viewing your calendar, notes, etc., especially for people who might not always carry their iPhone, iPad, etc. around the house with them.

 

[artifex]

6 inches seems like it'd be a good size for programmable environmental controls like a thermostat, etc., or checking if door and window relays show locked, but too small if it's going to also be a hub for things like IP cameras.