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 iPhone — 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. 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.
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 MindBase home hub, and Ugreen debuted its HomeAgent, both combining network-attached storage, local AI to process and store footage from cameras, with a smart home hub to connect all your devices.
But one piece is still missing: networking. 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.
