GoKawiilis a senior reviewer with over twenty years of experience. She covers smart home, IoT, and connected tech, and has written previously for Wirecutter, Wired, Dwell, BBC, and US News.
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It took Tim Cook years to launch Apple into major new hardware categories, such as the smartwatch. But John Ternus could start his tenure right away with an ambitious new project: smart home hardware.
All signs point to a strong lineup of new smart home devices coming potentially this fall, putting Apple back in the game in a category where it has been painfully slow to ship new devices.
With a hardware man at the helm in Ternus, the chances of Apple fully committing to the smart home feel far higher than under Cook. And while, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Ternus was reluctant to invest deeply in the smart home a decade ago — taking “some responsibility” for Apple falling behind in the category — today he’s reportedly “leading the charge on a trio of home products.”
Apple has ceded ground to competitors in smart home hardware for years. Amazon and Google have launched more than 40 smart speakers and smart displays over the last decade, compared to Apple’s three. However, in that time, Apple has built out a privacy-focused, locally controlled platform for third-party devices. Take-up was initially slow from manufacturers, but Apple’s investment in Matter has spurred significant growth over the last few years. Yet there’s still been a dearth of Apple Home hardware. If the rumors are true, that’s all about to change.
Apple’s StandBy Mode for iPhones could be a glimpse at the type of controls a HomePad will have. Photo: David Pierce / The Verge
First up, there’s the “HomePad,” rumored to be a roughly 7-inch-square touchscreen smart display featuring facial recognition, FaceTime, presence sensing, and control of smart home devices like lights, locks, and cameras. There are reported to be two form factors, a wall-mounted version that can snap to a MagSafe mount and one with a HomePod Mini-style speaker base. A device like this could help unlock one of the struggles in the smart home — shared control. Everyone in the home can control it, and the home can similarly react to each individual in it, rather than being controlled by one person and their phone.
Ternus was reluctant to invest deeply in the smart home a decade ago
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