For as long as I know, Apple has had all the pieces needed for a smart home device, but never quite put them together. There is the Home app on the iPhone, HomePod speakers, Apple TV, and HomeKit-compatible accessories. What Apple has been missing is the one device that sits in the house and brings all of this together. That may finally change this month. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is preparing to launch a new smart home hub, codenamed J490, on October 13, alongside a new HomePod mini and Apple TV. The reported device, rumoured to be called Apple HomePad (official name not known right now), has a roughly 6-inch display and could sit on a table or hang on a wall. More importantly, it might be the product that gives Apple a proper answer to Amazon and Google inside your home. Here’s everything you need to know.
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When it comes to a smart home hub, we know Apple is definitely late to the party. Amazon has been selling Echo Show devices for years in India, combining Alexa with a touchscreen for things like controlling smart-home devices, making video calls, playing music and videos, checking the weather, and following recipes. Google took a similar approach with its Nest Hub displays, although it is no longer officially selling them in India. Google has since upgraded the assistant on compatible Nest speakers and displays with Gemini, making it better at handling natural, more complicated requests and understanding what is happening across your smart home, including compatible cameras and doorbells. So while Apple is entering a category that Amazon and Google have already spent years developing, it is doing so at a time when AI is changing what these devices can actually do.
So what does Apple think it can bring to a market that already has all of this? The answer, at least from what I can understand and what has been reported, is a much tighter and seamless connection to the devices people already use.
The new Apple smart home hub, reportedly codenamed J490, is expected to have a touchscreen, speakers, microphones, and a FaceTime camera. Apple is also said to be working on voice and facial recognition so the device can identify who is using it and show information relevant to that person. The reported software will bring apps from the Apple ecosystem such as Calendar, Messages, Photos, FaceTime, Notes, Reminders, Music, and Podcasts to the screen.
Basically, Apple is not starting from scratch over here. People already use the aforementioned apps and services on their iPhones every day, and putting them on a screen that stays at home could make the iPhone less necessary for some of the small things we constantly pick it up for. Checking a calendar, adding a reminder, looking at a photo, or answering a FaceTime call could all happen without reaching into your pocket.
For instance, imagine walking into the kitchen and seeing your calendar on the screen. You could ask Siri to add something to a shopping list, check a reminder, play a podcast, or pull up a recipe. If someone rings you on FaceTime, you could answer without reaching for your phone. The same screen could control your lights, cameras, and other compatible devices.
Of course, none of those ideas is particularly new. Amazon and Google already do versions of them. What Apple has to prove to the world and its core base is that it can make all of this feel more natural. And that is where the delayed Siri upgrade becomes important. Because reportedly, Apple’s smart home hardware has been held back partly because the company wanted the new Siri experience to be ready. The updated HomePod mini and Apple TV are also expected to get faster chips specifically to support Apple’s newer AI capabilities.
And to be fair, Apple probably needs AI to make this product worth having. A smart display that only responds to commands like ‘turn off the lights’ is not very exciting in 2026. Google is already moving towards natural conversations with Gemini, while Amazon is doing the same with Alexa+. Apple’s Siri needs to understand what you mean when you don’t phrase a request perfectly.
There is another reason Apple wants to be in the home. The company has spent years making the iPhone the centre of its ecosystem, but the home remains a place where that relationship is surprisingly weak. Amazon can sell you an Echo, a Ring camera, a Fire TV and other smart-home products. Google has Nest cameras, speakers, displays and other stuff. Apple has never really offered an equivalent collection of hardware built around the home.
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Finally, the reported design is also telling. Apple is said to be working on a countertop version with a round metal speaker base and an adjustable arm, with the design apparently inspired by the old iMac G4. There is also expected to be a wall-mounted version. Having said that, there is a lot Apple needs to get right beyond the design. The company is walking into a market where people already have Alexa and Google products in their homes. So a good-looking screen alone is not going to be enough. Apple needs the hub to be useful, and Siri will have a lot of heavy lifting for that. If asking the hub to do something still feels like giving a command to a voice assistant, it will be difficult to see why this needed to be an Apple product in the first place.