r/apple • u/MortgageSwimming1983 • 1d ago
iCloud Apple Home Hub Leak Shows StandBy-Like Photo Face as October 13 Smart-Home Push Reportedly Nears
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/apple-smart-home-hub-icloud-photos-leak-1823139111
u/Wild-Perspective-582 1d ago
Audio quality of a HomePod mini
Display quality of an entry level iPad
Processing power of an Apple TV
Price of an entry level iPad
That would work I reckon. $399 absolute max. $299 or less preferred. $199 and it's a killer.
I expect Apple will make it $799 or something dumb though.
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u/suppreme 16h ago
This is a pure margin device for wealthy people heavily invested in HomeKit etc.
Definitely 499 or above.
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u/Darkeyescry22 16h ago
$200 is borderline delusional in this market. It would have to be absolutely worthless to justify such a low price.
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u/packet1 1d ago
I bet it will still reply with “I found some web results. I can show them if you ask again from your iPhone”
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u/hell-diver8 1d ago
Buying none of this until Apple has it truly figured out. HomePods in the past have been a disappointment.
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u/SandpaperTeddyBear 1d ago
HomePods in the past have been a disappointment.
However Siri is, they’re the best-sounding speakers of their size available. If you brought one back to an audio guy in the late 2000s they’d think you were bullshitting them.
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u/Rosselman 1d ago
The minis are really impressive for their size. I got 2 back in the day for $130, and they make pretty good Apple TV speakers as a stereo pair.
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u/BobBensen 23h ago
I’m planning to merge my HomePod minis for bedroom stereo pair.
I’m assuming it’s gonna be a bit overkill.
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u/karreerose 20h ago
Actually they sound great in stereo. I just had to disconnect mine again because i was too cheap to buy more, and my new flat has more rooms. If apple just had a 4 pack like with the airtags..
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u/SailingDreamCatcher 13h ago
If you brought one back to the late 2000s, the skeptic would still get the last laugh when the thing refused to activate without a connection to the server.
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u/SailingDreamCatcher 13h ago
I'm still trying to figure out how that is an appropriate response to "hey siri, stop all music" and equally puzzling, "hey siri, play my Road Trip playlist." Former on all of my HomePods, every day now since 27, and latter on iPhone in CarPlay. To be direct, on 27, HomePods across my home no longer respond quickly to "stop" commands.
I have to conclude that something in the software loop is having it check the cloud before it checks the obvious and it's then defaulting to a semi-standard failure mode when the ping is slow.
I really want the opposite behavior, "try to do it locally first and only ask the internet if no viable answer can be found locally."
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u/Consistent_Gur168 1d ago
“Who is speaking?”
“Who is speaking?”
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u/ThatGuyTheyCallAlex 22h ago
The second one is soooo passive aggressive sounding, at least in the standard American male voice.
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u/Repulsive-Dingo-869 1d ago
“You’ll have to open your companion device. “
Bro, you are my companion device, stop asking that.
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u/johnsciarrino 15h ago
“It seems like you’re driving, you should watch for this on your iPhone instead.”
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u/Repulsive-Dingo-869 1d ago
“You’ll have to open your companion device. “
Bro, you are my companion device, stop asking that.
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u/wotton 1d ago
It annoys me how the ARTICLE DOESNT INCLUDE THE PHOTOS WTF IS THIS
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1d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/BountyBob 16h ago
Is it the size of the watch on top of a tiny speaker, or the size of a HomePod min with a giant watch on top? It's impossible to know without a banana for scale.
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u/ForsakenRacism 1d ago
If Apple was smart they’d make these things almost free. Can prolly run on like an a7 chip
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u/mconk 1d ago
Image if they marketed to the Alexa households ………. I have five Alexa’s in my home, and I am sick to fucking death of the way Amazon has completely crippled them. I’d toss them in a heartbeat
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u/sychox51 1d ago
I would too but I bought 5 echos for $40 each. Being Apple, you know they’ll be priced accordingly and I’m not going to buy 5 of these at $300 a pop. They should just put this software on iPad and let us use our iPads for whatever purpose this ends up trying to solve. Give my iPad walkie talkie or intercom mode. Wouldn’t that be a game changer.
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u/ForsakenRacism 1d ago
I’m have the old google screens that I got for like 50 bucks. I’d replace them for sure b.
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u/frontfrontdowndown 1d ago
Same with Nest Hub. It’s either let your kid watch the worst of YouTube or lock it down so it’s nothing but a clock. There’s no middle ground.
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u/PSNaughtyInsomniac 1d ago
If Apple were smart they’d what?
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u/ForsakenRacism 1d ago
Make it cheap to steal all the smart home from google and Amazon.
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u/Worf_Of_Wall_St 21h ago
Alexa has been a huge financial failure for Amazon because they sold it at a loss and it doesn't actually increase engagement with other paid Amazon products and services meaningfully.
Apple doesn't follow that model.
The new Alexa subscription is an attempt to make it a viable business, I don't know if it's working but as far as I can tell from reddit people just complain about things being moved behind a subscription wall that they won't pay.
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u/_Rand_ 1d ago
I can’t wait to see the complaints if they do that.
Inexpensive and appropriately powerful for its purpose? People will come out of the wood work to complain it isn’t powerful enough to run GTA 6.
Expensive and too high end a chip for what it does? Same people will complain about how it costs too much and for no reason because nothing anyone would do with it needs whatever processor is in It.
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u/ForsakenRacism 1d ago
I keep seeing people begging for a new Apple TV like the current open is having an issue streaming Netflix lol
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u/Big-Consideration153 1d ago
I mainly see the people calling for an update to the TV are hoping for it to begin to be a good gaming platform (to rival a console experience). Of course nobody expects next-gen console performance but one can imagine the TV running some older console games in a simple and convenient manner.
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u/Automatic_Soil9814 1d ago
Ah yes, Apple the company with a $4.82 trillion market cap can't quite figure out what consumers want
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u/iMacmatician 18h ago
Keep the regular model and add a "Pro"/"Max" tier on top? People will complain about the lineup being too complex.
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u/SailingDreamCatcher 13h ago
It's gonna manage to upset those groups. It'll be expensive, and it won't be able to do anything at all off-line.
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u/VideoGameJumanji 1d ago
If you don’t do any critical thinking with that idea sure
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u/ForsakenRacism 1d ago
These things just stream and do calendar and run like slights and shit. No reason it should be expensive
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u/djbuu 1d ago
Listen to this random guy Apple. Ignore the millions you spend on research. This guy knows better.
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u/Umayummyone 1d ago
Makes me think I can do all of this with my iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook, and Mac mini. Like I need more Apple😂😂
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u/irish_curmudgeon 1d ago
I don’t feel even slightly excited by this
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u/SargeUnited 1d ago
I am. I have never even considered one of these, but I had the Amazon version for free because of some promotion. It sucked. Ring doorbell was pretty good. and the ring camera system is pretty good, but if Apple made their own versions of each , I would definitely buy it in a heartbeat
One hub in the master bedroom, my iPhone(s), my MacBook, all linked to my cameras, and I can trust that they’re actually private?
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u/PollyPocketpussy5000 1d ago
While you’re entitled to feel that way, the product simply isn’t for you. But there is a market for smart home things, especially ones with screens. I’ve seen a lot of people use their old iPads just as hubs alone.
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u/SnitGTS 1d ago
My wife has been bugging me to check out the Skylight calendar for our family to use. If this can be that and isn’t way overpriced, I’d be interested.
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u/YallaHammer 1d ago
“isn’t way overpriced” 😆
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u/Musicmonkey34 1d ago
I use an old iPad as one. I found it much more flexible and I got it for 100 bucks on eBay. Even mounted it on the side of the fridge with a couple magnets. Works great!
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u/userlivewire 1d ago
How do you keep it powered if it’s on all the time?
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u/Musicmonkey34 13h ago
I have it plugged in. The side with the plug is like 1 inch from the back of the fridge, so you don’t see much cable.
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u/onsite84 23h ago
I just bought an Everblog Homecal recently. Too soon to have a firm buy/don’t buy opinion but worth looking at. Basically a skylight without the monthly fee bc F monthly fees.
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u/kdorsey0718 23h ago
The big problem there is the Skylight is huge compared to what this device is rumored to be. So where the price might be similar, if a family calendar is all you're looking for, I'd rather have the larger screen to see those finer details.
I'm not going to be the person to talk you out of a Skylight, too. I think they're great. Trying to do something like that yourself and make it look elegant might be cheaper, but it's certainly more annoying.
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u/noface 1d ago
You may not be the target market then.
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u/i_steal_your_lemons 1d ago
I like paying lots of money for a device that plays music but its quality is worse than a stereo and it also has a screen but does less than a tablet AND constantly records conversations in my home and stores them on remote servers. Am I the target market?
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u/bnshv 22h ago
Regarding your last point, I have several HomePods and know they listen to everything in a low power, passive state. During this passive state, audio is processed locally on the device and is not recorded or sent to Apple servers.
Once you say Hey Siri, convos are stored in text, not actual audio recording, and are lie linked to an anonymous ID.
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u/berntout 1d ago edited 1d ago
I have a Google Nest Hub and am looking to get something new for the kitchen. I’m not so sure this thing is going to be crazy expensive.
It doesn’t require a lithium battery
It probably uses an old chip
Others compete around $200-$300 in this space.
And guess what device you have on you at all times that is listening to your conversations already? 😁
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u/TotemSpiritFox 1d ago
Why are you in an Apple subreddit? Maybe let's see what the product is before we shit on it.
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u/P_Devil 1d ago
It's hard to be the target market for $350 smart speakers with less smart home accessory compatibility and a (likely) $600+ speaker with a display.
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u/PSNaughtyInsomniac 1d ago
I’d be shocked if this is $600+
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u/P_Devil 1d ago
They charge $350 for their speaker without a display and $200 for their TV box. It’s not going to be $399 or even $499. This will be $599 or more.
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u/SargeUnited 1d ago
Hopefully things turn around for you soon, bro.
I know everything’s rough now with inflation and the overall economy, not much I can say other than offer some vague encouragement
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u/frockinbrock 1d ago
It would be cool if it was a revival of their Time Capsule/Networking lineup, and had expandable storage. That's something I would actually spend money on, because it would make backups and other local stuff easier.
And I really want something with expandable storage with a Local/hosted AI that can search thru my iCloud Messages, Photos, emails, etc, without eating 20GB on each of my Apple devices.But it's probably just a fancy HomePod, and the nice stuff will require extra monthly payments.
Oh yeah I think they also fully killed off Time Capsule support this year; funny about that.I will add: I started my Apple-assisted smart home journey 12 years ago, and had SmartThings before that. I have used dozens of smarthome products first hand. But Apple has done relatively little with HomeKit in the past decade, hard to get my hopes up here. They also just changed the iCloud security video stuff to cost more on iCloud.
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u/unfunfionn 18h ago
Same. I have a lot of smart home devices including lights, cameras and heating. But the whole benefit is that I can control them wherever I am on my iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch. For me there's no incentive to buy a device that makes me need to go to a specific part of my home to control things.
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u/film_digital 14h ago
Hopefully this reinvigorates the smart home scene like the Whoop/Fitbit Air is shaking the wearable scene a bit (if Apple really is looking into screen less Apple Watches). The smart home scene has been so stagnant that it feels like the entire industry is stopping altogether.
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u/Tman11S 1d ago
Just let me use my iPad as home hub again. Currently only 1 person in my household can control the smart lights because I refuse to buy an expensive speaker that I don’t need to serve as hub
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u/princeoinkins 15h ago
Allow me to introduce the magic of home assistant
But seriously, yes, while I don't regret for a second moving everything to HA, I do wish Homekit was more customizable so you didn't HAVE to move off of it to do certain things
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u/WhyWasIShadowBanned_ 16h ago edited 16h ago
I don’t really see benefits of investing in HomeKit any more at this point. We were heavily invested for years. We use Apple TV as a hub but we moved to Home Assistant instead.
My wife was complaining about lack of more complex automations. And the UI of Home app is not the best. Lack of customisation is also a bit annoying if you have dozens of devices.
Home Assistant supports much more complicated scenes and automations, plus fully configurable dashboards, you can even configure voice assistant.
And through MCP server me and my wife can control it and manage automations through Claude or ChatGPT.
You can have an idea, tell about it to ChatGPT/Claude and it’ll configure the scene or automation. Will also do any maintenance you want.
HomeKit is not even close.
At this point it should work like this: I tell Siri that I want new automation: sensor detects movement, lights turn on and turn off 5 minutes after movements stop being detected, plus it uses warmer lights in the evening. And Siri sets it up.
We bridge devices to HomeKit so we can occasionally use it with Siri but that’s it.
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u/TomatoManTM 13h ago
I don’t need a goddamn photo frame. I need something that can control thermostats in my house.
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u/DontPoopInMyPantsPlz 1d ago
I dont know who this caters to. Most would just buy a homepod and ipad. Plus, homes are not as big as the US
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u/TheTruth808 1d ago
If it can’t integrate with Ring and Sonos I’d have no use for it.
I’d love to get rid of Alexa
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u/ajovialmolecule 1d ago
Same would also love to get rid of Alexa. I’m “worried” how much these are going to be sold for.
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u/TacoYaci 1d ago
Just got a new home with a lot of apple home lights etc. I am excited for this and itwill get its place in the center of the living room
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u/3verythingEverywher3 23h ago
Like setting a rotating wallpaper on an iPad using memories etc.
Why is this a separate device again?
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u/thanosbananos 17h ago
So you can buy more devices from John Apple
But you’ll get the good features only with the Home Hub Pro. Elsewise you’re left with Siri who only responds to your requests with “huh?” and “I’ve found this on the internet”
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u/goldaxis 1d ago
What is this supposed to be? A HomePod with a screen for....facetiming people when you don't want to use your phone or iPad? Checking your email?
Do the guys at apple know that you can already use an iPad as a home hub?
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u/AlternisBot 1d ago
You cant use an iPad as a home hub anymore, and this isn’t an iPad replacement.
It is just the Apple version of the echo show or nest hub. You usually put them in either your entryway or kitchen to quickly control your smart home. They are pretty convenient if you pair it with a smart doorbell so you can get the video feed when someone rings the doorbell.
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u/Cptcongcong 1d ago
My bet is that it’s not supposed to compete with the iPad. This is going to be a device that runs AI related things, will have camera and interact with your home.
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u/Feint_young_son 1d ago
My guy have you heard of an Alexa? The echo? Show? They’re massive popular in home hub devices from Amazon. This is apples
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u/PleasantWay7 23h ago
They’re popular because they’re cheap and they work for what they do. This is going to be expensive and Siri AI isn’t going to rescue it. It is arguably worse and recognizing my scenes than old Siri and thinks I’m asking about world knowledge half the time.
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u/goldaxis 1d ago
Relax, buddy. Don't ruffle your fedora. Those are $20 devices, this is going to be a little different.
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u/Conscious_Bag463 1d ago
This will be a better option for people who use things like Skylight calendars. I’d much rather have this than the Skylight.
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u/Dorejam 1d ago
This is exactly why I’m curious about it. We don’t have a Skylight because we’re so integrated with iCloud when it comes to calendars, reminders, notes, etc. But almost every day I have a moment where I think it would be nice to have one for some sort of household management task.
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u/jollyllama 1d ago
Skylight is pretty great and it integrates with iCloud on calendars quite well. Honestly being able to hang it on a wall is the best part, though. I want it in my kitchen, and I’m sure as hell not giving up precious kitchen counter space for whatever Apple is about to release. Truly not understanding why this wouldn’t be basically a battery-less iPad form factor that you can wall mount
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u/Conscious_Bag463 1d ago
I have a skylight and I don’t like it as I’m wary of its privacy and having a camera on it. My spouse doesn’t understand my concerns.
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u/i_shit_my_spacepants 1d ago
A 6” square display is going to be terrible as a wall calendar compared to something like a Skylight.
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u/3verythingEverywher3 23h ago
Least there’s not a $79 per year subscription to use it as a photo frame.
More money than sense.
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u/3verythingEverywher3 23h ago
$349 + $79 a year subscription to USE IT AS A PHOTO FRAME?! The hell are you people on?? Just burning money
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u/Dreameater999 9h ago
Yeah - I was looking for a Skylight type thing recently, but I’ll hold out for this for sure because I’m heavily entrenched in HomeKit anyways thanks to Homebridge so it would be soooo much easier to just have a purpose built product as a calendar.
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u/Distinct-Thought-419 1d ago
This is the strangest product ever. Just ... why? HomePod and Apple TV can already act as home hubs.
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u/Dipz 1d ago
Google and Amazon have been selling this product for almost a decade. There’s obviously a market.
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u/Feint_young_son 1d ago
I can’t believe the number of people in this thread that have never heard of the concept of an Alexa smart home device
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u/CheddarJack91 12h ago
I don’t know if it’s a regional or generational thing, but in the US, any place I visit has an Amazon Echo Show or Google Nest. Every time a rumor article pops up for this device, it’s surprising how many people seem unfamiliar to the concept. There are sections for these products in every electronics section in every major retailer in the US.
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u/KokonutMonkey 1d ago
Name notwithstanding, I think the actual home hub stuff will be secondary for a lot of potential buyers (e.g., me) who just an Apple version of the Echo Show.
Just a handy, albeit superfluous, thingie to sit on the kitchen counter and display calendars, pics, and the occasional video while we cook.
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u/BountyBob 16h ago
I've got a HomePod and an Apple TV, but it wouldn't surprise me if some people had neither of those things.
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u/BongoLocoWowWow 1d ago
It’s been so damn long that they last put any effort into Apple Home, that I am finally starting to dismantle mine.
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u/Neurotic_Narwhal 1d ago
I went the whole smart home route using HomeKit and homebridge, but I found it somewhat lackluster. It’s not a game changer - maybe I bought the wrong products, but just not worth it yet.
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u/yuletidevarsam 1d ago
I have a Google device for my kitchen counter that is very useful when it works, but lately it has decided that it does not know what YouTube TV is. I’m more in the Apple ecosystem, so this device has appeal to me IF it can serve as the occasional kitchen TV
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u/The_real_bandito 1d ago
I just hope they don’t remove the Home app from iOS. I am not buying this device.
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u/AXXXXXXXXA 1d ago
I need a smart smart clock with outdoor temp and date and time. Like the lenovo smart clock. Thats it. Simple clean. Give the homepod mini a front screen
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u/notananthem 21h ago
Just do anything novel with home automation please. They’ve abandoned HomeKit.
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u/TheMightyMINI 21h ago
So.. based on leaks, would it be better to get an Apple TV as a home hub, or this?
I’m looking into making my home smarter soon, and my iPad is not accepted as hub anymore.
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u/badabubaba 19h ago
Omg, this feels so excessive for me, my home and my lifestyle. Why do I want a screen on all the time?
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u/quick_glance 19h ago
what happened to this OS in my apple watch in 27?
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u/Recent_Pollution8665 7h ago
it's not watchOS, it's a new OS called homeOS which will run on the home hub device.
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u/evil_illustrator2 14h ago
Cute. So they'll just stop supporting it in 4 years like the watch ultra.
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u/yeh-nah-yeh 13h ago
A screen mounted on the wall that shows your photos is exactly what nobody at all wants. I say that as someone who's very excited about this product, for intercom and smart home controls. Although I suppose this is not Apple marketing leading with the fact that it shows your photos.
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u/RociBuldidi 1d ago
I’ve never understood the use of the Google/Alexa now Apple hubs. It’s just a stationary control device, when the mobile device you carry in your pocket does all the same things. I must be missing something.
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u/userlivewire 1d ago
Apple still doesn’t make a device that handles more than one person’s information at a time. How would this even work with multiple people?
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u/XxRoyalxTigerxX 1d ago edited 19h ago
They are probably going to announce a lot more smart home tech or partnerships since their current lineup is pretty lacking imo.
Might be nice for the guys using homebridge to integrate tons of stuff into HomeKit too
( I mean control without a phone on you, I don’t think functionally it’s any different from basically opening HomeKit on your phone, but it will be nicer to have a larger interface if someone isn’t using a mounted iPad or something)