Apple’s smart home security system is on its way, says expert

Last month, we reported on Apple's plans to beef up its smart home ecosystem and its intention to sell "10s of millions" of connected smart home security cameras. Now the expert who delivered that estimation has provided more details of Apple's smart home strategy for 2025 and beyond.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has expanded on his original suggestions in a new blog post. One of the key takeaways is that Apple is going to reposition the HomePod line-up to focus less on audio and more on the smart home. He claims the much-rumoured HomePod with a touchscreen will be sold primarily as a smart home device.

The previously leaked camera is part of that strategy too, and Kuo expects Apple to integrate it tightly with the touchscreen HomePod as well as Apple's wider smart home system.

Where's the HomePod with a display?

We'd expected Apple to launch a HomePod with a display by now, but apparently the production of the new device has been delayed several times.

Kuo previously predicted a 2024 launch, but that has been postponed at least twice: first to the beginning of next year, and then again to after the annual WWDC software developers' conference in the summer of 2025.

The hold-up is apparently due to delays with the new device's software, which previous reports suggest is a cross between the watchOS and Apple's tvOS. The hardware is comparatively straightforward and is believed to include Apple's A18 processor and a 6.7-inch display. The hefty processor is there for the obligatory Apple Intelligence support.

Apple seems to be confident about its new smart home strategy: it apparently intends to ship half a million of the new HomePods in the second half of 2025. That's hardly iPhone numbers, but it's considerably more than the Vision Pro is expected to have sold over the whole of 2024.