After years of treating smart home products like a hobby, Apple is reportedly ready to kickstart an aggressive market push. There are new home devices and a fresh strategy on the way, with Apple Intelligence at the center. Here’s what’s coming in 2025 and beyond.
Apple’s new home strategy features three pillars
In his latest Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman outlined Apple’s plans for a major new smart home push starting in 2025.
He detailed three pillars of this new approach:
- Apple Intelligence with a heavy Siri focus
- homeOS, a new software platform built on tvOS
- Broader accessory compatibility, which Matter makes possible
One of the most interesting tidbits involves how Apple plans to utilize AI as part of its future smart home products.
The company’s goal is to use its new Apple Intelligence platform to offer home automation on steroids, as well as precise control of applications, devices and media. A core piece of Apple Intelligence is a new App Intents system that allows the Siri digital assistant to manipulate features inside apps.
Siri’s ability to perform hundreds of new app actions isn’t expected until next spring. But based on the details Apple has shared so far, the upgrade could bring a lot of new power to the assistant.
Imagine being able to perform a huge set of iPhone, iPad, and Mac actions without actually touching those devices—just by talking out loud anywhere in your home.
Smart display with Apple Intelligence expected in 2025
This new Siri capability could be especially well-suited for a new Apple home device.
That’s where 2025’s expected smart display comes in.
One of the first big steps will be releasing a new smart display — something people can use to play TV+ streaming content, do FaceTime calls, surf the web, and access apps like Calendar and Notes. It would be an affordable iPad-like screen, and consumers could place multiple units around the house, like they might with a HomePod mini.
Our own reporting indicates this product could feature a display that’s more square than rectangular, and include an A18 chip.
As much as I’d like for Apple Intelligence to come to existing HomePods, it’s poised to be a strong selling point for Apple’s fresh smart home push and its new products.
The smart display, per Gurman, won’t necessarily offer the best sound quality. Instead, it appears to complement existing HomePods rather than replacing them.
But a future, more expensive smart home product will offer a better music experience.
The tabletop device, which is expected to come later, would be on the pricier side — perhaps around $1,000 — and focus on home security monitoring, advanced videoconferencing, and media playback with high-quality audio. The screen would be positioned atop a swiveling robotic limb, helping it stand out from competitors’ products.
It’s unclear how this pricier device will set itself apart for home security and videoconferencing purposes. But ‘media playback with high-quality audio’ is easy enough to understand.
It seems the lower-end smart display might be positioned like a HomePod mini—affordable, but with compromises to hit that budget price.
The higher end device would then be more like the full-size HomePod, with advanced capabilities including better sound quality.
Apple Intelligence smart home: wrap-up
It’s encouraging to hear that Apple is planning a more aggressive approach to the smart home market. As much as the Apple TV 4K and HomePod have their loyal fanbases—myself included—there’s still plenty of potential for more diverse and powerful smart home products.
With Apple Intelligence at the center of these devices, I’m excited to see what’s possible.
Are you intrigued by Apple’s smart home plans? What are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments.
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