Initially, there was some optimism that the snags would only result in the smart home hub shipping a few months later — say, around the time of the new iPhones. Now the company is considering a delay until 2026, when the Siri features are expected to land.
Mark Gurman, Bloomberg
Apple is working on a smart home hub; we're pretty confident this is happening as we speak. Enough rumors and reports about the device have occurred that we're sure it's coming at some point.
However, it looks like the hub is being delayed a bit, as the latest reports from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman indicate the Cupertino company will hold the device back until 2026 when an improved Siri launches (and this is probably the smartest thing Apple could do, as it wouldn't want to launch a new category of devices when it's not ready).
Apple delayed its contextual Siri and Apple Intelligence features that rely on App Intents until 2026, and early reports say these are at the core of Apple's rumored smart home hub.
Unfortunately, we don't have an exact date for the contextual Siri update, so we can't say precisely when the company will get the new smart home hub into the houses of Apple fans worldwide. However, we're confident the assistant will be a heavy focus at WWDC 2025 on June 9.
Why Apple delayed contextual AI features
While we can only speculate on what made Apple hold back the release of its new Siri assistant, we assume the wonky notification summaries that came with Apple Intelligence didn't help the company's cause. If that was a preview of where the company's contextual AI is, it's certainly not ready to control all the devices in people's homes.
A leaked meeting from Apple said that the app intent system worked since iOS 18.2, but it was only right 80% of the time. If users are relying on it for essential aspects of their lives, they need to be able to trust the results every single time, or the whole system falls apart.
Either way, I'm glad to see Apple slow down and give the AI assistant more time. I'd rather wait for a better Siri experience than have the company push out a half-baked version so that it can get its smart home hub on the market sooner.
Siri's reputation is already lower than it used to be, so Apple needs to tread carefully.
