The long-awaited Apple Home Hub and more will finally arrive thanks to the revamped Apple Foundation Models trained by Google Gemini. The release window is still in question, though.
There have been rumors about various AI-centered products for years. However, their release has been pushed back with each Apple Intelligence upgrade delay.
According to the Power On newsletter, Apple is focused on releasing three AI-powered smart home products. This is repeat information shared on Thursday with details that have been repeated ad nauseam since the products have been ready for production for some time.
The unnamed Apple Home Hub tablet device is expected to come in two tiers. The device has been called many things, like a HomePod with a screen, but that in itself is contradictory with previous reports from the same publication.
Two Home Hubs
The best description of the Home Hub tablet came in 2024, which painted it as a 6-inch tablet device that would be carried around the home to be mounted on the wall, in an articulating arm, or in a speaker. That description shifted to a 7-inch model with two versions, one that included a speaker base and another that included a wall mount.
Other than the display size changing, I believe these are still the same product in concept. This isn't so much a "HomePod with a screen" as much as a modular tablet system that comes paired with a speaker base.
A future Home Hub could come paired with a robotic arm
Google had a similar product called the Nest Hub Max.
The Tabletop Robot product described in the newsletter appears to still be a version of the Home Hub, but it comes with a 9-inch display instead. This product has been rumored as a follow-up product that wouldn't launch at the same time and would be capable of acting as an Apple Intelligence hub.
However, given that all of these products are on hold, it would be odd to release them separately with varying capabilities. I expect we'll see a 7-inch option as the base model and a more powerful 9-inch option.
If Apple can maintain the magnetic connecting points to be the same, users will be able to have multiple Home Hub tablets in the same household without worrying about which base is compatible with what.
Unlike iPad mounting points, I believe this will be a crucial feature set. Apple will want users to move about the home with one of the tablets and attach them to various accessories.
There's also a chance that the robotic arm model is only compatible with the more powerful 9-inch tablet due to its AI use. If that's the case, Apple could pitch it as a separate product, though I'm not entirely sure.
It's still a Home Hub that understands how close a user is and which user is interacting with it. Having it stuck in a single location could make sense, since it would be the central brain of the household.
Then the smaller, cheaper tablets would be satellites to the larger, more capable model. Perhaps these are all outdated rumors and Apple has once again rethought the entire product line.
There's no way of knowing today. Nothing new has appeared about the Home Hub in a while, and every mention recently has just been repeat data.
Apple security camera
The third product Apple is expected to release is a simple smart doorbell camera. For some reason, the newsletter resists calling it that but instead refers to it as a security device.
Apple's new smart camera will likely be a doorbell
There will likely be some deep ecosystem features tied into the Apple doorbell, but for now, we only know of one. It will be an Apple Intelligence-upgraded version of the facial recognition already included with HomeKit Secure Video (HSV).
Today, HSV can utilize the Apple Home admin's tagged faces in their Photos app to label people that are viewed on the camera. When a known person rings the doorbell, Siri will announce them by name over the HomePod chime.
It'll be interesting to see how Apple pitches these products. Considering the latest Apple could release the new Apple Foundation Models this time around is September, we could hear about these products as soon as the iPhone event.
Though, if I were to place a bet, I'd say October.
Doom and gloom reporting persists
One final tidbit from the newsletter that appeared to be rather extreme exaggeration. It was suggested that the incoming CEO, John Ternus, would have to introduce "several breakthrough new product categories around artificial intelligence" or be seen as a failure.
New CEO, same old doom cycle
That's quite the statement considering Tim Cook introduced perhaps three major product categories during his tenure. While the thrust of the newsletter is that Apple is planning to enter 10 new product categories under Ternus, I find the whole concept amusing.
The AI hype engine can't seem to escape even the smallest bit of analysis. While it is important for Apple to release products like the ones described above, I don't believe they are make or break for the company.
If you need any proof, look at how the last two years of iPhone have performed even without a big AI push. Even MacBook Neo is selling like hotcakes without the breathless promotion of "life-altering AI" from Microsoft.
Apple will be fine, but I suppose the drama is necessary to keep people on the edge of their seats and those stocks moving.
