Apple home hub device built around Siri AI may be almost ready

It would either sit on a stand like a sliced-in-half HomePod Mini or attach to a wall.

Marvin Samuel Tolentino Pineda/Getty Images

A smart display from Apple that would compete with Amazon's Echo Show or Google's Nest Hub has been rumored since 2022, but may finally launch soon. Dubbed J490 inside Apple, the device is currently being widely tested in employees' homes ahead of a release, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported last night. 

The new device would reportedly either sit on a stand like a sliced-in-half HomePod Mini or attach to a wall. It will look like an Echo Show with a smaller display and offer pervasive Wi-Fi connectivity, an advanced display, a camera, microphones and an interface that looks "like a mashup of iOS, tvOS and watchOS," Gurman wrote. It would sync with an iPhone for setup and some tasks. 

More controversially, it would feature facial recognition through the camera systems to identify who is looking at the screen and personalize the contents "including apps, notes, calendar appointments, news, music and podcasts," according to the report. The display will support a home screen, widgets and clock faces like those on the iPhone Duo's standby mode. 

The device's functions will revolve around Siri AI, which finally appeared with iOS 27, letting you look up information across devices and accounts. You'll be able to ask it to do things like play a podcast or song someone recently sent you, find a particular image, or perform tasks in apps like Calendar and Notes. The device was supposed to come as early as 2024 but was reportedly delayed by issues with Apple Intelligence. There's still no predicted arrival date, but it could arrive later this year based on recent leaks. 

In another interesting rumor from Gurman, Apple reportedly kiboshed a Pencil designed specifically for the dual-screen iPhone Duo. It was reportedly shorter and magnetic to attach to the Duo's hinge. However, Apple ran into technical problems before mass production and shifted to supporting the current iPad Apple Pencil. The company plans to support that Pencil by the end of 2026.