Why Apple’s next computer should be for the smart home | The Verge

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Why Apple’s next computer should be for the smart home

After the “intelligent personal hub,” Apple needs to build the intelligent home hub.

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An Apple Home computer could combine a Wi-Fi router, an AI-powered smart home hub, and local storage into a single device.

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John Ternus didn’t mention Apple Home once during his first keynote as Apple CEO. But he did open by describing an “intelligent personal hub” that prioritizes local processing, protects your privacy, and integrates with all your other devices, apps, and services. While Ternus was talking about the i Phone — not a new smart home device — what he spelled out is exactly what I want to see Apple make: an intelligent home hub, a computer for your home.

Rumors suggest Apple’s first smart home hub with a screen is imminent. While that’s long overdue, it’s likely to be more interface than infrastructure, a device that can run your home locally but still uses the cloud. What the smart home needs is a computer to run it — one that controls and processes data from connected devices locally, improving speed, reliability, and privacy while securely storing your digital life, from photos and files to music and movies. Crucially, it would do all this inside your home.

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The cloud has worked well for years, but the recent proliferation of AI-powered home features, such as generating text descriptions from security camera footage, makes local computing more compelling. On-device processing can be faster and more private, and it depends less on an internet connection. These features will also evolve quickly to feed more context to our smart homes, bringing more utility but also a greater need for privacy and security.

The category of smart home super hubs emerged at IFA in Berlin this month. This is the Anker Eufy Mind Base, a smart home hub that supports dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread, and Zigbee, and is a Matter controller. It runs an on-device, Anker-developed LLM with support for 16 wireless cameras with expandable local storage up to 48 TB.

This type of dedicated home computer — or smart home brain — was an emerging category at last week’s IFA consumer tech show. Anker launched its Eufy Mind Base home hub, and Ugreen debuted its Home Agent, both combining network-attached storage, local AI to process and store footage from cameras, with a smart home hub to connect all your devices.

A hub. AI. A router. Are you getting it? Call it an Apple Home Server.

Most home routers haven’t caught up with today’s smart home. Despite years of talk about smarter routers, manufacturers and ISPs still seem reluctant to take on the complexity. Comcast has had Thread and Matter support in its gateways since 2022, but hasn’t turned them on. Connecting devices to your home network remains one of the most frustrating parts of the smart home, with manufacturers, ISPs, and platforms all pointing fingers when things fail. Ikea’s recent troubles rolling out new Matter-over-Thread devices are just one example.

Here’s where Apple could step in and combine all three — a smart home hub, local storage with AI processing capabilities, and a home router — into one device. A hub. AI. A router. Are you getting it? Call it an Apple Home Server.

There’s no evidence Apple is building such a thing. But the company’s recent contributions to Open Wrt, the open-source software that powers most routers, could be a tentative first step.

That last part is crucial, and plays directly to Apple’s strength: hardware that is “super easy to use without a big learning curve,” as Ternus put it this week. Apple also has experience combining these pieces. Air Port Express put networking and media streaming on one box; Air Port Extreme and Time Capsule added NAS capabilities; and Home Kit Secure Routers brought Apple’s security into the network itself.

Apple walked away from all these products in 2018, saying at the time it might return to the space if it found a meaningful way to progress routers further. The pieces have never fit together more perfectly than they do now.

Apple’s Airport Express is a much-missed device. Resurrecting it as part of a powerful whole-home computer for today’s smart home setups would be a popular move.

Apple is deeply involved in developing Matter and is spearheading the Thread networking protocol. An Apple Home Server could bring the entire smart home stack together, letting Apple control everything end to end and remove much of the complexity. Matter even has a blueprint for part of this device: the Matter Home Router Access Point device type combines Wi-Fi networking and Thread Border Router functionality, and Apple’s contributions to Open Wrt focus on HRAP implementation.

According to reporting by Matter Alpha, Apple’s code includes production-grade networking infrastructure that could be turned into a consumer product. There’s no evidence that’s what Apple is doing; it could simply be for router manufacturers. But the pieces are falling into place. With Apple bringing Apple Intelligence to its Home Kit Secure Video service in i OS 27, a Home Server device could take that service to the next level with fully local processing.

Local is the key. An Apple Home Server would be a supercharged Apple Home Hub, powering local-first smart home automations, keeping data private and secure at home, and improving responsiveness for devices like smart lights, locks, and security cameras. It could work alongside existing home hubs — the Home Pod, Apple TV, and rumored Home Pad — for voice and screen interfaces.

Apple loves subscriptions. But it loves its premium hardware even more.

This might go against the grain. Apple loves subscriptions. But it loves its premium hardware even more, and this would undoubtedly be premium hardware. Also, a device like this would give Apple a powerful foundation for everything it does in the home: i Phones, Macs, i Pads, Apple TVs, Home Pods, its existing digital services, and potential future AI-powered ones. And, unlike a typical smart home hub, it could appeal to anyone who wants a reliable, private home router and a way to store their digital life at home.

Smart home infrastructure is broken, and Apple is uniquely positioned to fix it. An Apple Home Server is the hardware backbone Apple Home has always needed. As our digital lives move deeper into the cloud and AI makes the smart home more dependent on data, the case for a computer to run our homes gets stronger, and building one on open standards could limit lock-in.

Apple has all the pieces. The smart home has been waiting for someone to put them together. If Apple finally builds it, the only surprise will be that it took this long.

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Close Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Senior Reviewer, Smart Home Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy

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