Apple’s smart home hub delayed, here's why

Apple Smart Home

Apple’s long-awaited smart home hub, which is rumoured to feature an iPad-like display that will serve as a center for controlling all smart home accessories, now faces a postponement. This is attributed to the struggles faced by the Cupertino-based technology giant in developing a more advanced version of Siri with Apple Intelligence to improve Siri’s comprehension of user context and app interactions.

Apple’s smart home hub indefinitely delayed: Key reasons

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, via the latest edition of the Power On newsletter, Apple initially had plans to announce its new smart home hub in March but those are now in jeopardy, as the hub "relies on the delayed Siri capabilities." The company promised major Siri improvements at last year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), but those features are still not ready.

However, Gurman added that despite the delay, Apple has progressed to advanced testing stages, with select employees now permitted to take the device home for evaluation and feedback. Apple initially planned to introduce the more personalized Siri as part of the latest iOS 18.4 update. Sadly, the release is now reported to be pushed back to iOS 18.5.

Previous reports have also suggested that the purported smart home hub has been codenamed J490. It is tipped to feature a touchscreen with a square display, and similar to the Apple TV OS, its screen is speculated to have a customizable lock UI with multiple clock faces. Moreover, similar to the existing HomePod, this upcoming smart home hub could allow users to make personal requests via voice commands and will have video conferencing capabilities leveraging an in-built camera with gesture control support.