Apple’s long-rumoured smart home hub could finally be nearing release.
The device, reportedly known internally as J490, is now being tested in Apple employees’ homes, suggesting the company may be getting closer to launching its answer to the Amazon Echo Show.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple has been developing the device since at least 2022 and could release it later this year – though we don’t have anything more specific than that.
The home hub is expected to have a smaller display than an Echo Show and can either sit on a stand, resembling a HomePod Mini sliced in half, or mount on a wall. It reportedly features Wi-Fi connectivity, a camera and microphones, with an interface described as a mashup of iOS, tvOS and watchOS. It will also sync with an iPhone for setup and some tasks.
Much of the experience will apparently revolve around Apple’s updated Siri AI, which arrived with iOS 27. The assistant is designed to work across devices and accounts, allowing users to ask the hub to find a particular photo, play a song or podcast someone recently sent them, or carry out tasks in apps such as Calendar and Notes.
The display itself is expected to support a home screen, widgets and clock faces similar to those available in the iPhone Duo’s StandBy mode. There’s also a more unusual feature: facial recognition. The camera could identify who is looking at the screen and personalise what appears on it, including apps, notes, calendar appointments, news, music and podcasts.
That could make the hub feel considerably more personal than a conventional smart display, although it also means the camera will be an important part of the device’s experience.
Apple had reportedly planned to launch the product as early as 2024, but issues with Apple Intelligence pushed it back. There’s still no confirmed launch date, but the latest testing suggests the wait could finally be coming to an end.
Gurman also reports that Apple abandoned plans for a dedicated Apple Pencil for its dual-screen iPhone Duo after running into technical problems before mass production. Instead, the company plans to support the existing iPad Apple Pencil with the Duo by the end of 2026.
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