Macworld
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple’s planned push into the smart home market will be delayed until 2026, a direct effect of the decision to delay the major update to Siri. Apple had originally planned to release the Siri update with iOS 18.4, which was released last week, but the company rescheduled the release after some internal discussions about Siri’s development (or lack of it).
This new report of a delay follows several others. In the first half of March, Gurman reported on the delay but did not offer a timeframe, though he implied it could be oushed back to the fall. Aimilarly, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported in March that the smart home hub may ship in the third quarter of this year, a rescheduling after a planned unveiling at WWDC25 along with iOS 19.
Apple wants to create a greater presence in the smart home market, and the smart home hub (which has been dubbed the HomePad by the media) is said to be the control center of that effort. With an iPad-like screen and HomePod-infused dock, the device will tap into “Siri and the underlying App Intents technology” to offer AI answers and actions without needing to plysically interact with the device.
Apple’s handling of Siri has been scrutinized as of late, from its mishandled development and its marketing based on false premises, to its inability to handle the simplest of queries. Apple has made moves to prioritize Siri development, but it comes at the cost of delays for a feature that was introduced nearly 14 years ago.
Gurman also repeats a previously reported detail that Apple is already testing the hub in the corporate headquarters and employees’ homes. Gurman also states (again) that Apple will unveil a more elaborate hub that features a robotic arm holding a display, and would serve as a “smart home command center, videoconferencing machine, and remote-controlled home security tool.” It’s unclear when Apple plans to launch that device now, but it’s like either late 2026 or 2027 at the earliest.
Source : Macworld
