Apple is getting ready for its long-delayed push into the smart home. The company will hold an event called “Welcome Home” on Tuesday, October 13, at 9 AM ET (6:30 PM IST) in New York. Apple has not said what it will launch.
But according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the centrepiece will be an all-new smart home hub, code-named J490. It will be joined by the first HomePod mini update since 2020 and the first new Apple TV since 2022.
It is the second major launch for John Ternus, who took over as CEO from Tim Cook on September 1. His first was the iPhone Duo, Apple’s first foldable phone, unveiled on September 9.
‘Welcome Home’
According to Bloomberg, the hub will have a roughly 6-inch square display mounted on a speaker base. Earlier reports had pegged the screen at about 7 inches. There will be 2 versions: a countertop model with an arm that lets users tilt the display, and a wall-mounted model, code-named J491.
The device is reported to be about as thick as an iPhone, with a black bezel similar to older iPads. It comes in Apple’s grey aluminium finish and runs on USB-C power, with no internal battery and no physical buttons. Since it is meant to stay in one place, it has a single front-facing FaceTime camera and no rear camera.
The hub’s defining feature is that it is designed for multiple people in a household. Using its camera and microphones, it can identify family members by their face or voice. It then shows each person their own calendar, messages, notes and contacts. A visitor mode hides personal information from guests. If the hub cannot identify someone correctly, the iPhone serves as a fallback.
Beyond that, the hub is expected to handle FaceTime calls, music, photo galleries, intercom calls between rooms, and control of HomeKit accessories like lights, locks and cameras. In the kitchen, it could offer voice-guided recipes. Earlier reports also said it will support Matter, the industry standard that lets smart home devices from different brands work together.
The hub is expected to cost about $350. Apple is reportedly hoping customers will place several of them around the home rather than buy just one.
One notable gap: the hub reportedly will not have an App Store at launch.
The hub was originally expected much earlier. Bloomberg reported in March 2026 that it had been postponed because Apple’s revamped Siri was not ready. The hardware was reportedly largely complete while Apple waited for its AI assistant to catch up.
The new HomePod mini and Apple TV were also held back so they could ship with Siri AI. Both will keep their existing designs but get faster processors capable of running Siri’s upgraded AI models.
That makes Siri the real test of this launch. A screen that recognises your family and runs your home depends heavily on an assistant that understands what you ask. Siri has long trailed Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Assistant in the home, and some reports suggest the new Siri AI still needs work.
Apple’s patchy record in the home
Apple has tried to crack the home before, with mixed results. The original HomePod launched in 2018 at $349. It was praised for its sound but criticised for its price and limited Siri. Apple discontinued it in 2021 and brought a second-generation version back in 2023. The HomePod mini, launched in 2020, did better but has not been updated since.
Meanwhile, Amazon and Google have dominated smart displays for years with the Echo Show and Nest Hub. Apple currently sells the HomePod, HomePod mini and Apple TV, but has long trailed both rivals in branded smart home hardware.
The hub appears to be the first step in a wider strategy. Bloomberg reports Apple is working on a privacy-focused home security camera, and a sensor that can tell which room a person is in without recording video. Apple is also reportedly working with LG on smart home devices such as cameras, a doorbell and a thermostat. These would carry LG branding but are designed with Apple, and some could be shown at the event.
Further out, Apple is said to be developing a premium 9-inch display mounted on a 360-degree robotic arm, as well as a refreshed full-size HomePod.
The Ternus playbook
The home push fits a pattern from Ternus’s first weeks. With the iPhone Duo, Apple entered foldables years after Samsung, Motorola and Google. Analysts described it as classic Apple: wait for the category to mature, then enter and try to shape it. The smart home is a similar story. Apple is arriving late, betting that tight integration with the iPhone, privacy features and a smarter Siri will make up for lost time.
Ternus, a mechanical engineer who spent most of his Apple career on hardware, has opened his tenure with 2 big product bets in about 5 weeks. The foldable showed Apple can still redesign its most important product. The home hub will show whether Apple can finally win a category where it has struggled for nearly a decade.
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