Apple's All-New Home Hub Will Be Revealed October 13: What to Expect

Saturday October 10, 2026 6:58 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Apple reportedly plans to unveil an all-new smart home hub as part of the "Welcome home" product launch it announced for Tuesday, October 13.

Home Hub Command Center with Dome Base Colors Feature
Our image above is just a rough concept based on rumored design details, so be prepared for the device's actual appearance to be different.

The device will likely be unveiled in a press release shared on the Apple Newsroom website at around 9 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, as that is when Apple's private "Welcome home" experience in New York begins. At the experience, invited reporters and content creators will likely receive hands-on time with the home hub.

The hub is said to be designed for managing smart home accessories in the Apple Home app, home security monitoring, digital photo galleries, calendar appointments, music playback, FaceTime video calls, and more. As a user approaches the hub, or moves away from it, the size of the interface elements will reportedly adjust.

The device will be ideal for the kitchen, bedroom, and living room, and it will reportedly have multi-user support for families.

The hub reportedly has a 6-inch square display, and an A18 chip or newer for Apple Intelligence, with Siri AI expected to be a tentpole feature. A new operating system — potentially named "homeOS" — will feature clock faces, widgets, and more. There will be a tabletop version of the hub with a speaker base, plus a wall-mounted version.

Some of the preinstalled Apple apps that will apparently be available on the new platform include Calendar, Camera, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, Apple News, Reminders, Notes, and the new Siri app with Siri AI conversation history. Do not expect third-party apps at launch, though, as the device reportedly lacks an App Store.

The device is often referred to as a "HomePad" in rumors because of expectations that it will be sort of a HomePod-iPad hybrid, but perhaps Apple will opt for a straightforward "Apple Home" name, or perhaps it will go with "HomeView" based on trademark filings that are potentially linked to the company. We will soon find out.

Top Rated Comments

newyorksole

3 weeks ago

The home device no one asked for. Hard pass.

why do some of y'all say "hard pass" before things are actually revealed lol I'll never understand. not every single detail about the device has leaked.

Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

txmike418

3 weeks ago

I really hope they commit to an App Store for this soon. I want Netflix, HBO Max, Pandora, Eter Internet Radio, Zoom, etc. the list goes on and on.

On a 6” screen?? 🤣🤣🤣

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

darthbane2k

3 weeks ago

who is asking for this?

I am, and have been for a while now. I have a smart home , and a dedicated multi user hub will be perfect.

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Happy_John

3 weeks ago

Lots of people didn't see the point of the iPad when it was in the rumored product stage. Just a big iPod touch! Heard that one about a thousand times. The rumor mill has been curiously sketchy on this product, with few firm details emerging. So maybe we should wait until we actually see it to judge it?

A lot of people don’t see the point of the iPad now in 2026. But it does sell.

I think the iPad sells because it doesn’t really replace a Mac or an iPhone. It does some things both if those devices do, but better ( but it definitely doesn’t do all things better) simply put - much larger screen than an iPhone, much more convenient and comfortable form factor than a MacBook.

This new device is similar - it doesn’t need to do anything completely new, it just needs to do some things better than any other Apple device.

That one thing maybe multiple user accounts and automatic user detection.

But really, the price point is important. It needs to be cheaper than a base iPad + HomePod mini, because you get much more value, features and flexibility, from buying those two products than buying thus new one, and really, to be attractive to a large number if people, it needs to be cheaper than a base iPad alone.

The price point is going to be very important as to whether lots of people buy it to see if it’s useful or not.

As for the assumption that Apple expect people to buy multiples of this, it’s probably more realistic to get one of these into as many homes as possible rather than trying to get people to buy multiple units from the get-go.

Apple’s “challenge” now is not their sillily high-end and high-priced products. The people who buy them will keep buying them, because these people gave money to burn. For all the hyperbole about the Mac Studio ultra pricing the people who will buy it are not overthinking buying it. They’ll just do it.

The problem us the low- to mid- ranged and priced items. The buyers of these are the people worrying about increases in cost-of-living and the reduction of the amount of discretionary income they have.

Overpricing the low to mid range is much more risky than overpricing the top- shelf.

So we’ve yet to see who this will be targeted with is product: high-end buyers or low- to mid-end buyers.

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

IJ Reilly

3 weeks ago

No App Store? No thanks. My iPad already does this. Don’t see the point.

Lots of people didn't see the point of the iPad when it was in the rumored product stage. Just a big iPod touch! Heard that one about a thousand times. The rumor mill has been curiously sketchy on this product, with few firm details emerging. So maybe we should wait until we actually see it to judge it?

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Devnul0

3 weeks ago

What’s your frustrations with the home app?

I have a number of Eve temp/humidity/air quality sensors throughout the house. Thread/Matter. The devices work great. In the Home app, I have to click through several layers to see their temperature or humidity readings, which are shown to me in small text, light grey on dark grey, barely legible at arm’s length. Some of my devices have sensors that the Home app doesn’t even support, such as smart outlets that report power usage.

One time I used HomeBridge to have my mini-splits (Mitsubishi with Kumo Cloud) appear. When I did this, all of my Eve sensors vanished from the Home app and it only showed me the temperature readings from the mini splits. I had to give up and remove them to get my Eve sensors to show up again. Also, the risk level became too high once Siri misheard me and instead of turning off only the lights, turned off the mini-splits as well. For the same reason I won’t have my locks or garage doors controlled by Siri.

What would be nice with this new device is the ability to set up widgets for only specific devices. I don’t want anyone in the household to be turning on/off the lights or sound system in my home office, for example. And certainly not changing settings. But right now I have to have little buttons or connected wall switches everywhere for “manual control,” and it would be great to have a screen in the kitchen as an alternative, with weather and maybe even a webcam showing. I should probably get a 9” touch display and a Raspberry Pi and see what I can do with Home Assistant, without any Siri or especially without any AI.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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