Apple is poised to bring Siri AI to the masses through new smart home devices, and the timing could be excellent.

Before AI blew up in popularity and the term "AI devices" was even coined, Amazon's Echo devices have been bringing AI assistance into people's homes for over a decade. As a result, people feel relatively at ease incorporating a smart home hub, with the Pew Research Center reporting that in 2026, roughly one in three US adults will have a smart speaker that uses AI. This product category's demand and acceptance, combined with Apple's recent launch of its revamped Siri AI, makes it look like a good moment for Apple to turn its attention in this direction.

In fact, a recent report from Apple watcher Mark Gurman said the launch could happen as soon as October 13 and will feature several new products, including:

• Smart-home hub: The new device will reportedly feature a 6-inch square display and can be mounted on a wall or placed on a countertop. Both versions have to be connected to power and have microphones, speakers, and a FaceTime camera.
• HomePod mini and Apple TV: These devices retain current designs but will have more advanced processors to support Siri AI's more powerful AI models. The HomePod mini will also have new colors, including green and pink.

Apple's revamped smart home rollout has been a long time in the making, but the move shows that the company is finally confident enough in the AI to integrate it into smart home devices, now that it can take multi-step actions, actually understand what you're saying, and, with your personal context, serve as a more capable assistant.

A core feature of the smart home builds on that by personalizing the content people see based on who approaches the devices, using voice and facial recognition (with the option of secondary authentication via an iPhone if users don't feel comfortable), according to Gurman. Depending on who walks up, the smart-home hub can display messages, calendar appointments, and notes. Beyond this, it can be used for more basic tasks such as controlling thermostats, locking doors, making video calls, playing music, and running photo slideshows.

Our Deeper View

Apple has one key advantage that could help it chip away at Amazon's dominance: its users are notoriously loyal to the ecosystem, so adding an Apple smart home device is an easier sell—in part because of the trust in Apple's commitment to privacy. My biggest complaint about Amazon's Echo products is that while they do exactly what they promise and are tried-and-true smart home assistants, the handoff between them and the devices I use every day, like my laptop and phone, is clunky, to say the least. Making that handoff truly seamless would mean downloading the Alexa app, and even if I did, I wouldn't use it enough for Alexa to really get to know me. A hub that integrates seamlessly with my messages, calls, and photos would be one I'd reach for far more often. It would go beyond orchestrating smart home tasks and become a genuine assistant and productivity tool. Being able to send hands-free texts while cooking or folding laundry alone would save me a ton of time. The downside to opting for these new AI products is being further locked into the Apple product moat. The Deep View plans to cover any product launches and share perspective on the effectiveness of the products.