Apple has never really managed to break into the smart home market, and every now and then we hear about a new breakthrough in the sector. According to a reliable leaker, the next such attempt will take place next year with the launch of two new products and a completely new operating system. In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman predicts that Apple’s next operating system will be called homeOS, based on tvOS, and that it will run on a pair of new smart displays .
While targeting a broadly similar market and both running homeOS, the two devices will be markedly different in scope and price. The first to land, according to Gurman, will be what he describes as a “low-end smart display for using FaceTime and controlling home appliances.” Codenamed J490, this could be launched as early as next year.
But the companion product, currently named J595, is a much more ambitious and therefore more distant prospect. It combines an iPad-like display with a tabletop robotic limb and is intended to function as a “command center” for the smart home. Gurman says it can cost $1,000 or more; it does not offer a timetable for its launch.
It should be noted that both of these devices have already been predicted. Gurman himself covered the J595 in mid-August, while the low-end display, sometimes identified as a magnetic wall unit, has been talked about for years. What’s new is Apple Intelligence’s involvement in all this: both products, Gurman notes, “are considered collaborations between Apple’s artificial intelligence and home device hardware engineering groups “.
As the leaker points out, Apple’s current lineup — the Apple TV and HomePods — aren’t designed to run its AI platform, and it’s looking for a solution. Apple Intelligence is critically important to the company’s mid- and long-term strategy, and it wants the platform to be at the heart of customers’ homes and lives.
The first Apple Intelligence features are expected to arrive in October with iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS 15.1 updates.
