Apple has big plans for the smart home in 2025. Having long struggled with limited device support and complex standards, the company wants to move forward with simplified platforms, deeper device integration and improved software. This change in strategy is intended to strengthen the Apple ecosystem and make it competitive at a time when the larger industry is resting its hopes on Matter and Thread to restart a faltering market.
In this article we outline Apple’s smart home strategy for 2025, and explain what this means for the HomePod range.
The seamless smart home
Apple is planning to significantly expand compatibility with cross-industry standards in 2025. Apple already supports the universal standard Matter, which makes it easier for you to use a wide variety of smart home products from different manufacturers. The Eve and Nanoleaf brands, which are well established in the Apple ecosystem, were among the first to jump on the bandwagon, and others are gradually being added.
By doing this, Apple is breaking away from previous restrictions and opening up its platform to a wider range of devices. But it will also make it much easier for users to pick and choose which manufacturers they want to buy from and find the best-value choice. This can be a double-edged sword, as Apple is rarely the cheapest option.
Apple Intelligence is also a central element of the new strategy. This AI-based technology is designed to understand commands, react flexibly and perform complex tasks. It is intended to enhance Siri so that the voice assistant can better implement contextualized commands. The goal is a true smart home experience in which your devices respond efficiently to your needs and work together seamlessly.
YouTube / Apple
There’s no place like homeOS
A key element of the new strategy is the introduction of homeOS. This operating system is intended to bring together several hardware lines and provide the basis for a standardized smart home. Currently, the Apple TV has tvOS running in the background, while the HomePod runs customized software. In future, homeOS could serve as a common platform that provides updates and functions more quickly.
The new homeOS software won’t be limited to the HomePod and Apple TV: it will play a role in new device categories too. These could include stationary smart displays that allow you to control your home devices more directly and intuitively, instead of using the fiddly controls on an iPhone, iPad or Apple TV. This would benefit both the HomePod and the HomePod mini: the more devices are controlled via homeOS, the more seamlessly your HomePod integrates into the overall experience.
But one question remains unanswered: What will the smart display be able to offer that can’t already be accomplished with an (inexpensive) iPad?
Apple
Where does this leave the HomePod?
The HomePod range has barely evolved since the launch of the original model. Although there have been software updates, there have been no real hardware innovations. We don’t even want to talk about the 2nd-gen HomePod; rarely has there been such a loveless relaunch of an Apple product.
As part of the new strategy, however, Apple could give the HomePod and HomePod mini more significance.
In future, the HomePod should be able to handle Apple Intelligence. This is not yet the case, as the hardware requirements are high and the HomePods are controlled by lower-power chips from the Apple Watch range. But Apple is likely to equip future generations of HomePods with more powerful chips to process complex local commands. This would allow Siri to react more intelligently on the HomePod without delays caused by cloud processing, and would enable Apple to remedy the HomePod’s biggest weakness: its limited voice assistance.
The next generation of the HomePod mini should also benefit from the new strategies. Improved processors and optimized wireless standards such as Wi-Fi 6E should reduce response times and make operation smoother and more intuitive. Apple can also upgrade its sensor technology to better capture environmental data, which would make it easier to use an updated HomePod mini as a smart hub.
Another factor is new displays. Apple is understood to be working on HomePod variants with an integrated screen, and although these will not appear for some time, they could significantly enhance the HomePod family. With a display, the speakers could be used much more flexibly, for example for video calls or displaying camera images. The idea is not entirely new; Amazon has been offering the Echo Show for a long time.
The smart home of the future
Support for Matter, the introduction of homeOS, and the deeper integration of Apple Intelligence in Siri will all drive Apple’s smart home ecosystem forward. For the HomePod and HomePod mini, this means a long-awaited upgrade.
While Siri was previously seen as a weak point, better hardware, AI features and a simplified software platform could turn the HomePod into a valuable home hub in the future. While new HomePods with displays and significantly upgraded hardware may not be launched until after 2025, Apple is laying the foundations for a more powerful smart home offering.
This article originally appeared on our sister publication Macwelt and was translated and localized from German.
