Apple’s Home Hub to Kick Off Larger Home Security Play in 2027
Concept image of Apple 'HomePad' [iDrop News / AI]
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Odds are better than even that we’ll see the launch of several new home devices this fall — possibly even during next week’s “Surprise and Shine” event — but that’s apparently just the beginning of the much bigger plans Apple has in store for our homes.
Next week’s event is widely expected to bring a new Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini, representing the first refresh of Apple’s set-top box in nearly four years, and the first real update to its smallest smart speaker in, well, ever. The first HomePod mini was released in 2020, but it hasn’t received a single update in the intervening six years beyond some new colors.
That roughly ties it with the 2013 “Trash Can” Mac Pro, which was released in December 2013 and discontinued in December 2019 — 2,179 days without a single processor bump, graphics update, or price reduction. The HomePod mini might come in just under the wire, since it debuted in October 2020, but it’s going to be pretty close.
Both the new Apple TV 4K and second-generation HomePod mini are expected to support Apple Intelligence in some form or another, but the real star of the home accessory runway is expected to be Apple’s first smart home hub with a screen — the so-called “HomePad.” That’s been drifting through the rumor mill for years, but came into focus in late 2024 when Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that the hardware was nearly ready for an early 2025 launch.
Sadly, even though several Apple employees were reportedly testing the new device in their own homes, the software wasn’t where Apple wanted it to be. The challenges Apple faced in smartening up Siri also affected the home hub, forcing Apple to push it back until Siri was ready.
With that day now upon us — Siri AI is already up and running in the iOS 27 betas and will launch to the world next month — there should no longer be anything holding the home hub back. By all accounts, it’s expected to have a seven-inch screen, Siri AI, facial recognition capabilities, and be available in both tabletop and wall-mountable versions.
It’s going to be a massive push into the smart home market for Apple, which until now has taken a somewhat secondary place in the living room when it comes to core accessories. While the HomeKit framework was ahead of its time when Apple unveiled it in iOS 8, it was merely the foundation; Apple expected third-party accessory makers to not only build the smart home devices, but even write the apps that would tie into HomeKit, which ran entirely under the hood. It wasn’t until iOS 10 was released in 2016 that Apple added its own first-party Home app into the mix.
A year later it unveiled its first HomePod, but that and the Apple TV was as far as it went in terms of home hardware. Now, it plans to go much, much farther. The smart home hub is just the tip of the iceberg.
Apple naturally needs to get the hub out first, but it’s reportedly still working on a variety of other accessories that we’ve been hearing about for nearly as long. These include a smart home security camera and smart doorbell that could even support Face ID authentication.
We haven’t heard much about these devices since the first reports in late 2024, but that’s likely just because Apple has had bigger fish to fry — and so has the rumor mill. They’re still coming, though. In a new report this morning outlining Apple’s “Ternus era” product roadmap, Gurman confirms an “in-home security sensor and system” is coming in 2027 — and that Apple may even have another twist in mind: Apple may be getting into the home security monitoring game.
In-home security sensor and system: Apple is planning a privacy-centric home security camera and automation device that will use AI to monitor the surrounding environment instead of actual video footage. It will tap into a new home security and monitoring service.
Mark Gurman
That sounds like a bit of a stretch, but it’s not hard to believe Apple is at least considering it. Gurman doesn’t go into any details, and it’s hard to imagine Apple operating an ADT-style service, but with the new AI features it’s already baked into iOS 27’s HomeKit Secure Video, it’s easy to imagine Apple working on a value-added service that could provide more intelligent alerts — especially if it’s tied into their own camera and doorbell hardware.
After all, Apple has already broken the ice by bundling these services with iCloud+ plans. Even the original HomeKit Secure Video limited the number of cameras you could use based on how much iCloud storage you were paying for. Now, AI video summaries add a second tier; users will need to be paying for at least a $9.99 monthly 2 TB plan to get any kind of AI camera features. As of right now, that offers support for five cameras, with the 6 TB and 12 TB plans required to get more.
It’s unclear whether the new home security and monitoring service that Gurman refers to would be tied into iCloud+ in a similar manner or be marketed as a standalone service, while possibly also being bundled into Apple One. It’s no surprise that Apple has morphed into more of a services business in recent years — the Services segment now accounts for over a quarter of its revenue, eclipsing nearly everything else except the iPhone, which still accounts for the remaining half. Expanding its home services gives it yet another new ongoing revenue stream, while also tying into its own hardware ecosystem.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
