New Matter 1.4 spec supports more device types & improvements for Apple Home

The Connectivity Standards Alliance has finalized the Matter 1.4 spec, releasing it to accessory makers and platforms like Apple Home with several new device types and improvements.

The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) is the governing body that develops the Matter spec. It's a member-led organization that is made up of Apple, Google, Samsung, and countless others.

Matter is intended to be the unifying standard, allowing products to work seamlessly across multiple platforms such as Apple Home — formerly HomeKit, Samsung SmartThings, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and more.

So far, the CSA has been on a bi-annual release cadence, updating the spec twice a year with additional features and improvements. We got the Matter 1.2 update in October 2023 and Matter 1.3 in May 2024.

What's new in Matter 1.4

New in Matter 1.4 is support for home routers and access points, generally referred to as HRAP. This allows HRAP devices to not only be controllable via Matter apps, but ensures that they will play nicely with Matter accessories.

Any Matter HRAP device will act as a Wi-Fi access point and a Thread border router. They also will help sharing Thread network credentials.

The 1.4 update makes it easier for devices to be added to multiple ecosystems, such as a smart light that you can control with a HomePod and a Google Nest smart speaker. They can now be added to multiple ecosystems automatically.

Finally, there's a big push for energy management. New devices and features include:

• Solar power inverters, hybrid solar systems, and solar panel arrays
• Battery walls, battery storage cells, and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) that feed back into the grid
• Heat pumps
• Water heaters
• Scheduling for EV chargers
• Scheduling and preset modes for thermostats
• New in-wall devices that deliver power to wired devices like lights and fans

Matter 1.4 availability

It's unclear when new devices or ecosystems supporting Matter 1.4 will arrive. Technically, Apple still hasn't added support for Matter 1.2 yet.

As it does every year, the annual Consumer Electronics Show is coming in January but that seems early for new devices to be launched. Since the spec was just finalized, that doesn't leave accessory makers or ecosystem developers much time.

It may not be until 2026 that compatible devices ship. Rumors have pointed to Apple making a big push into the smart space in 2025.