Apple Smart Home Display: Everything We Know

Apple is working on a new Home accessory that is designed to serve as a central hub for smart home management. The Apple TV and the HomePod are already home hubs and almost all Apple devices can control a HomeKit setup, but Apple is designing an all-in-one home management product to make control even easier.

iPad iOS 16 WP Display Feature eric edit
This guide aggregates everything that we know about the Apple Home display product that's in development.

Design

While Bloomberg's Mark Gurman initially claimed the smart home display would look similar to a low-end iPad, he later said that the device will have a small square display that's about the same size as "two iPhones side-by-side." The small size is expected to allow Apple to keep the price low.

The device would be light weight and designed to be moved from room to room to be hooked up to different charging hubs, or customers could have multiple units in different areas of the home.

Gurman believes that the display will feature a hemispherical base similar to the iMac G4, with the small screen positioned at an angle on the base. There is a possibility that Apple will include speakers in the base as well.

the new imac g4 featureThe original ‌iMac‌ G4

According to 9to5Mac, the smart home accessory will have a "squarish display" and a built-in camera for FaceTime. The camera will reportedly be able to identify hand gestures from afar and tell one person from another. The hub will work as an AirPlay receiver.

We don't know concrete details about sizing, nor much about what kind of chargers Apple might design. A wall-mounted option would make the smart home device more integrated into the home than an iPad, and it would provide a centralized spot for anyone inside the home to control ‌HomeKit‌ and Matter-connected products.

Right now, both ‌HomeKit‌ and Matter devices need to be controlled from an iPhone, ‌iPad‌, or Mac, and each person in the home needs to be individually invited to a ‌HomeKit‌ setup, which can be a hassle if there are guests in the house or for quick controls when an Apple device is not handy.

Presumably, two or more of the Home displays will likely be able to work with one another for use in separate rooms, similar to how the ‌HomePod‌ and ‌Apple TV‌ work now.

Apps and Apple Intelligence

The display will run apps like Calendar, Notes, and Home, and it will have an interface that's optimized for controlling smart home devices. Apple Intelligence will be a central feature on the smart home accessory, and it will eventually serve as a companion to the robotic device that Apple is working on.

Capabilities

In addition to being able to be used for smart home control purposes, the display could allow for streaming video and making ‌FaceTime‌ calls. It would have a built-in speaker, so it could also be some kind of ‌iPad‌ and ‌HomePod‌ hybrid device, which we've heard rumors about previously.

Competition

An Apple-designed smart home management product with an integrated display would compete with other smart home devices from companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Google. Facebook, for example, makes the Meta Portal, a device that can control Alexa-based products and that allows for video calls with friends and family.

echo show
Amazon makes the Echo Show, a smart display with a speaker and a 10-inch display. It can be used for controlling smart home products, watching video, making calls, and more. Google offers the Nest Hub Max for streaming content, listening to music, and controlling products that integrate with the Google smart home system.

With almost all of Apple's major competitors offering an in-home device that is designed to serve as a hub for controlling smart home products and making calls, it's not hard to imagine a similar device from Apple.

Chip

Apple's upcoming smart home accessory is expected to use an A18 chip, which would allow it to run ‌Apple Intelligence‌ features.

Launch Date

Apple's upcoming iPad-like smart home accessory could be released as soon as 2025.

Popular Stories

CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday April 15, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is less than two months away, and there are already a handful of new features that are expected with the update. Apple should release the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.4.1 With Bug Fixes

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:11 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1 come two weeks after the launch of iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. There have been complaints about ...
tvOS 18 Thumb 1

Apple Releases tvOS 18.4.1

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released tvOS 18.4.1, a minor update to the tvOS 18 operating system that came out last September. tvOS 18.4.1 comes two weeks after Apple released tvOS 18.4, and it is available for the Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD models. tvOS 18.4.1 can be downloaded using the Settings app on the ‌Apple TV‌. Open up Settings and go to System > Software Update to get the new software....
iPhone Security Feature 25

Five iPhone Security Features You Should Be Using

Wednesday April 16, 2025 4:15 pm PDT by
Apple has quite a few security features that it's added to iPhones, iPads, and Macs over the years. Now more than ever, it's important to make sure you're taking advantage of the built-in security tools that are available to keep yourself and your data safe, so we've rounded up a list of the most important options. If you don't already have these enabled, you might want to consider turning...

Top Rated Comments

zorinlynx Avatar
29 months ago
A lot of us have older iPads sitting around that would be perfect for this if Apple would release an app that autolaunches on one and runs full time.
Score: 70 Votes (Like | Disagree)
brijazz Avatar
29 months ago
"Hey, should we fix up HomeKit and make it work more reliably?"

"Nah, let's just add another device to the mix that can tell us 'accessory not responding'."

"Deal."
Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)
betasp Avatar
29 months ago
It’s gonna be $349 and everyone’s gonna complain.

Save this for reference
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kytiger Avatar
29 months ago
I’m done investing in anything HomeKit related until they fix the mess they’ve already created.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
29 months ago
Ultimately I care more about the Operating Software and how well it will interact with other devices. This is what I want to see. Overall continuity!



Attachment Image
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
29 months ago

A lot of us have older iPads sitting around that would be perfect for this if Apple would release an app that autolaunches on one and runs full time.
That’s what I was thinking.. Why not release an App or an Operating System that controls everything? Why do we need new hardware for this? When we already have iPads.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)