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Apple's Smart Home Command Center: What We Know So Far

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Apple is working on a new Home accessory that is designed to serve as a central hub or "Command Center" for smart home management, and it's going to launch in 2025. The Apple TV and the HomePod are already home hubs and almost all Apple devices can control a HomeKit setup, but Apple is designing an all-in-one home management product to make control even easier.

Apple-AI-Command-Center-Concept-Mock-5.png

This guide aggregates everything that we know about Apple's smart home hub.

Design

Apple's upcoming smart home product will somewhat resemble an iPad, and it will have an all-display design. It is expected to be square rather than rectangular, and it will measure in at six inches with thick bezels around the edges.

In terms of size, it will look similar to two iPhones that are side-by-side, and it will be small and lightweight to allow it to be moved from room to room. The device will support touch input for opening apps and controlling connected devices.

Apple-AI-Command-Center-Concept-Mock-3.jpg

It will be able to be mounted on a wall, but Apple is also designing a dock that it can slot into that will let it sit on a table or desk. The desktop base could include additional speakers for playing music.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has suggested that the smart home device will have a hemispherical base similar to the iMac G4, with the small screen positioned at an angle on the base.

the-new-imac-g4-feature.jpg
The original iMac G4​

Built-in speakers will be included, and it will have a camera on the front for FaceTime and video calls, along with a rechargeable battery. Apple is planning two colors, including silver and black.

Sensors

The smart home hub will be able to determine how close a person is standing to it, adjusting features from there. When no one is nearby, for example, it might show the temperature, but as someone approaches, it could shift to an interface for adjusting the thermostat.

Person detection will likely allow it to be used in smart home automations for doing things like turning on the lights when someone enters a room. The sensor might be able to tell one person from another, and it could recognize hand gestures for longer range control.

Apple is also considering extra sensors that would plug into outlets throughout the home to interface with the hub, but it is not clear if these will be manufactured.

Speakers

Gurman says there will be built-in speakers and perhaps an optional dock that adds additional speakers, but Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes the device could be positioned as a HomePod. In a late 2024 report, Kuo said that a HomePod with a display would launch in the second to third quarter of 2025.

Gurman has not referred to the home hub as a HomePod, but it seems that Gurman and Kuo are referencing the same product. Kuo says that the built-in display for the HomePod will "emphasize smart home functionalities more," and that the product will be a "strategic repositioning of the HomePod product line."

Chip

Apple's upcoming smart home accessory is expected to use an A18 chip for Apple Intelligence support. Given that Apple Intelligence requires 8GB RAM minimum, it will have at least 8GB RAM.

Interface

Apple does not plan to create a dedicated App Store for the home hub, but it will come with several apps pre-installed. The main view will be a customizable home screen with widgets that can show the weather, important home controls, photo slideshows, upcoming events, and more.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has described the interface as a mix between watchOS and the iPhone's StandBy mode. A software-based dock will be available for launching various apps, and it will support Siri.

Apple is planning to integrate Siri with Apple Intelligence for accessing and performing tasks in apps. By the time the device launches, the smarter version of Siri will be available, and will be able to control apps and tasks.

There will be a focus on controlling smart home products and also security, with Apple providing alerts and camera footage from connected smart home cameras.

Apps

Several Apple apps will be installed even though there won't be a dedicated App Store. Apps that are rumored:
  • Safari
  • Apple News
  • Apple Music
  • Notes
  • Calendar
  • Photos
  • Home

Intercom

More than one of the devices can be used throughout the home, and two or more can serve as room-to-room intercoms.

AirPlay

With its built-in speakers, the device will support music playback and it will be able to work as an AirPlay receiver.

Future Smart Home Accessories

Apple is reportedly considering creating its own line of smart home accessories like an indoor security camera, but the company wants to see how the hub device does first. If that's successful, Apple could prioritize smart home products.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo thinks Apple is already working on a smart home camera that will be manufactured starting in 2026. Kuo says that Apple will sell "tens of millions" of these devices over the long term, with wireless connectivity and deep integration with Siri and Apple Intelligence planned.

Apple could have an edge with security cameras because of its focus on privacy. Privacy would be a focus, providing an alternative to cameras from companies like Ring and Nest.

Pricing

It's not clear what Apple will price the device at, but Amazon's similarly sized Echo Show costs $90. By keeping the display size small at six inches, Apple may be able to keep the price low and competitive with similar products.

Competition

An Apple-designed smart home management product with an integrated display would compete with other smart home devices from companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Google. Facebook, for example, makes the Meta Portal, a device that can control Alexa-based products and that allows for video calls with friends and family.

echo-show.jpg

Amazon makes the Echo Show, a smart d... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: Apple's Smart Home Command Center: What We Know So Far
 
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https://www.macrumors.com/guide/apple-command-center/
Last edited:
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It will be able to be mounted on a wall, but Apple is also designing a dock that it can slot into that will let it sit on a table or desk. […] the smart home device will have a hemispherical base similar to the iMac G4, with the small screen positioned at an angle on the base.
Click to expand...
So it has a G4-like base but can only be mounted on a wall, unless you buy an additional dock???

Something doesn’t compute, or this is heavily over-engineered. Or the base is actually the dock and not included by default.
 
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alexandr said:
Not sure how practical it's going to be given that it will live in one place and that Home is so easily controlled by our existing devices... but I'm curious.
Click to expand...
That's exactly my thought. I use my phone to do home control. Yes I have a connected server handling some of the actual communication with controlled devices, but it sits in a corner near my router and out of sight. My phone is my interface and it's mostly wherever I am.
 
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rchaser said:
Is it 1985?

We have phones — which they understand — but let’s not let that stop them from building some non-sense.

Apple needs new leadership, a shake up, new direction.
Click to expand...
Why? Being led by Cook to becoming the world's biggest most successful tech company "...needs new leadership, a shake up, new direction." Seriously? What is wrong with being the best in the world?

Note that I too can enumerate Apple's faults. But having faults does not mean "Apple needs new leadership, a shake up, new direction."
 
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I trust Kuo for being an honest player here but everything else from Bloomberg is idle speculation and nothing more. Here’s my question for you: If someone at Apple is leaking information on unannounced products why is Tim Cook letting it happen?
 
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This rumored device adds no functionality to Apple's HomeKit that isn't duplicated by any number of other Apple devices already in production.

Here's an idea though: add a Matter bridge, similar to the well-known Zigbee, but more tightly integrated with the Apple mobile and computer operating systems. The ability to have one device to control things like Nest and other Android-compatible products through HomeKit would drive me to buy it, no matter the cost. And save bunches of money, being compatible with much less expensive smart products currently not compatible with current Apple HomeKit.
 
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victorvictoria said:
This rumored device adds no functionality to Apple's HomeKit that isn't duplicated by any number of other Apple devices already in production.

Here's an idea though: add a Matter bridge, similar to the well-known Zigbee, but more tightly integrated with the Apple mobile and computer operating systems. The ability to have one device to control things like Nest and other Android-compatible products through HomeKit would drive me to buy it, no matter the cost.
Click to expand...
I suppose it could be that this speculated new device IS something along those lines but also with a display. While I don't need the display/user interface part (because I use my phone for that) I guess it's not bad to have a display if it doesn't drive the cost up much.
 
JohnC1959 said:
That's exactly my thought. I use my phone to do home control. Yes I have a connected server handling some of the actual communication with controlled devices, but it sits in a corner near my router and out of sight. My phone is my interface and it's mostly wherever I am.
Click to expand...
Right? I also have Hue light switches in all rooms, with various scenes programmed that toggle a lot more than just lights.
 
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