Apple is delaying the release of its planned Smart Home Hub until September 2026, Bloomberg reports . Apple has delayed the console's launch multiple times due to ongoing issues with the revamped version of Siri. The console has a strong focus on artificial intelligence and is tied to the smarter Siri that Apple has in the works.
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Before realizing that the Apple Intelligence version of Siri will not be ready until 2026, Apple was planning to release the console in spring 2025. After it became clear that Siri would need to be delayed, Apple was targeting a release in spring 2026 for the console, because it was planning to release Siri on iOS 26.4.
Siri is not present in the iOS 26.4 beta because the new release is not yet ready, so Apple will now keep the console until September. According to reports, Apple is facing problems with Siri's accuracy and has not managed to make all promised Siri functions work reliably.
A release schedule for September indicates that we will not see new Siri features until iOS 27, as iOS 27 will be released in September. Apple has promised that the new version of Siri will be released in 2026 and, provided it is released before December, Apple will not miss the timeline it gave to the public.
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The Smart Home Hub has apparently been completed and is ready to be released for several months now, but it cannot be released without Siri's update. The device is similar in design to an iPad, but with a square 7‑inch screen. It can be mounted on a wall or used with a speaker base and has a camera for facial recognition. The console can recognize when people are in the room and when someone approaches and will provide content specific to each person in the home.
Apple designed it as an AI hub for controlling smart home devices, making calls, displaying apps such as Calendar and Reminders, and much more. It is intended to be similar to the Amazon Echo Show, which is a speaker with a screen that is supported by Alexa.
Apple's Smart Home Hub does not include its own App Store, but runs Apple apps. It will have round app icons that are arranged similarly to the apps on the Apple Watch and will run a version of tvOS 27.
Apple introduced for the first time the new version of Siri in June 2024 and was planning to release the features in iOS 18.4. Siri's capabilities include personalization, screen awareness and Siri's ability to do more within and between apps, as well as image creation using Image Playground and an internet search function that summarizes information from search results.
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The Apple Intelligence Siri updates were intended to be followed by an iOS 27 update that will turn Siri into a ChatGPT‑style chatbot, but now it appears that all the new capabilities could come simultaneously in iOS 27. Apple plans to refresh Siri to make it look and feel more like a chatbot.
