Apple is expanding testing of its long-anticipated smart home hub, featuring integrated Siri AI, a personalised interface, and a suite of connected home functions, with a launch possible as soon as next month.
Apple’s long-awaited smart home hub is now being tested more widely in employees’ homes and could reach the market as soon as next month, according to Mark Gurman’s latest newsletter. The device, internally known as J490, has been designed as a central controller for the connected home, combining device controls, video calls, intercom functions and media access with Apple services and apps.
The product is expected to run on a new operating system built around Siri AI and to pair with an iPhone for set-up and other management tasks. Reports suggest the display will be roughly square and offered in two formats: one on a stand, and another fixed to a wall. Its interface is said to borrow from iOS, tvOS and watchOS, with a dedicated home screen, widgets and clock faces.
Apple is also planning a camera-based personalisation system that identifies who is in front of the screen and adjusts what appears accordingly. According to Gurman, the unit can do this without the type of depth sensor used for Face ID. That means it could show different apps, notes, calendar entries, news, music and podcasts depending on the person detected.
Siri AI is expected to be the key feature that makes the device work as intended. The assistant should be able to search across devices and accounts, find specific photos, resume songs or podcasts previously shared with a user, and handle more exact commands inside apps such as Notes, Reminders and Calendar. Bloomberg has previously reported that the hardware was effectively finished while Apple waited for the new Siri capabilities, which were then delayed; the assistant has now been introduced in iOS 27. Earlier reports also linked the hub’s timing to refreshed Apple TV and HomePod mini models, as Apple continues to position the iPhone as an “intelligent personal hub” for the AI era.
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