Apple’s new HomeView smart home hub doesn’t come with an App Store, a decision that’s puzzling users accustomed to installing apps to customize their devices.
There seem to be several good reasons for Apple’s decision, related to the device’s memory, storage, ease of use, privacy and maybe even regulation. But perhaps the most important factor is all about elevating Siri AI as a next-generation user interface.
The fourth-generation Apple TV 4K comes four years after its predecessor. While the streaming box retains almost the same design as its third-generation sibling, it packs some notable usability upgrades. That’s in addition to faster internals for a better overall experience.
Do these improvements make the Apple TV 4K (4th generation) a worthy upgrade from the third-generation model?
The Apple TV 4K (4th Generation) is raising eyebrows and dropping jaws, but not with amazing new features. It’s the price: $299. Fortunately, owners of older versions of the streaming box can get many of the biggest upgrades without buying new hardware.
And for a small investment, the improved Siri Remote can also upgrade a current Apple TV 4K.
Here’s how you might save yourself almost $300.
Apple is making a big push in the smart home segment with HomeView. The smart home hub, introduced Tuesday, brings Siri AI, smart home controls and FaceTime to a dedicated display for your home.
But there’s more to HomeView than its headline features. From differences between the two models to extra installation costs and requirements for personal Siri requests, these are the things you should know before ordering one.
The new Apple TV 4K lets you ask Siri AI what to watch from across the room, no remote required.
The A19-powered box arrives November 13 for $299, making it $100 more expensive than the previous model’s starting price. It’s the first Apple TV 4K refresh since 2022.
The new Apple TV supports four-speaker surround sound, and it finally gets perhaps the most-requested feature ever: The new Siri Remote gets Find My — making a lost clicker a thing of the past.
The HomePod mini 2, revealed Tuesday as part of Apple’s renewed push into the smart home, looks the same as its predecessor. However, the updated smart speaker comes in new colors and packs upgraded internals for an enhanced Siri AI experience.
“HomePod mini 2 brings together Siri AI, gorgeous new colors, and incredible audio,” said Kaiann Drance, Apple’s vice president of worldwide home product marketing, in a press release.
The new set-top box arrived Tuesday alongside the HomeView smart hub, the fourth-generation Apple TV 4K and the Apple Home Collection of smart home accessories.
Apple’s long-awaited HomePod mini 2 and next-generation Apple TV 4K could debut on Tuesday, with leaks and rumors pointing to significantly smarter Siri capabilities and a collection of internal hardware upgrades.
They’ll apparently be part of a renewed push by Apple into the smart home market.
Here’s what we know about these products before the announcement.
Update: The time for leaks and rumors is over — Apple’s smart home hub is now official. Read more:
Apple wants HomeView at the heart of your smart home
Apple appears ready to make a serious push into the smart home market with a new screen-equipped hub dubbed HomeView. It’s reportedly coming at a product launch event on October 13.
The device is for those who want to put the new Siri AI at the center of their home, as well as those who are serious about Apple’s HomeKit smart home accessories. Or both.
Here’s everything we know about Apple’s smart home hub in the days before it is expected to launch.
More than 15 years after its debut, Siri finally feels useful beyond the basics. While iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 pack plenty of notable upgrades, Siri AI is easily the highlight. It can find buried information, understand what’s onscreen and get things done across apps.
From comparing PDFs to organizing travel bookings, here are some practical ways to put Siri AI to work on your iPhone, iPad or Mac.
Siri AI on Apple TV looks closer than ever, thanks to fresh code found in the latest tvOS 27.2 beta. The code references Apple’s foundation models and a new Siri messaging framework.
Both hint that the next Apple TV set-top box could get Apple Intelligence features, possibly as soon as October 13.
After upgrading your Mac to macOS 27 Golden Gate, you might easily overlook some of the new software’s useful additions, like recording your screen with audio, Liquid Glass customization and more.
While the new Mac software looks mostly the same as macOS 26 Tahoe, it adds plenty of new features and improvements that make it a worthy upgrade. Here are eight things you should do immediately after installing macOS Golden Gate.
For a four-year-old device, the iPhone 14 Pro has aged well. But the iPhone 18 Pro offers some compelling everyday improvements that make it a worthwhile upgrade.
If you use an iPhone 14 Pro, it may just be time to upgrade. Here’s our iPhone 18 Pro vs. iPhone 14 Pro comparison to help you decide.
The long-rumored Apple home hub is shaping up to be the brain of your house. The smart display will reportedly expand Siri AI beyond your phone, using facial recognition to identify who it’s talking to.
The iPhone already serves as your personal AI hub. Now, Apple seems to want a second one for the whole household. And that shift could redefine how Siri handles daily life at home.
Although Apple is thrilled about the new Siri AI integrated into iOS 27, maybe artificial intelligence isn’t your thing. Fortunately, you can opt out of Apple’s new voice assistant.
iOS 27 lets you turn Siri off completely. Alternatively, you can switch from the new AI-powered Siri back to Siri Classic.
And if you absolutely do not want artificial intelligence in your iPhone, you can disable it … though that process is far more complex than is ideal.
Three years is a long time in the tech world. And forever in the world of smartphones. If you got an iPhone 15 Pro in 2023, the iPhone 18 Pro will look mighty tempting.
Are the improved cameras, longer battery life and faster charging speeds enough to justify upgrading from the iPhone 15 Pro, especially with the higher starting price? Here’s how the two compare.
Apple seeded the first iOS 27.2 beta to developers on Wednesday, giving them the chance to test several notable changes and improvements.
The company is skipping beta testing iOS 27.1, an unusual move but one with a good “Duo” reason behind it. Below is a rundown of all the new stuff in iOS 27.2 beta 1. (We will update the post as we discover more.)
Your iPhone’s next big software update just arrived. Apple released iOS 27 on Monday, fixing many of the annoyances that iOS 26 inadvertently introduced last year, while also tweaking Liquid Glass to improve readability.
Alongside iOS 27, Siri AI also launches in beta today, finally bringing Apple’s AI assistant on par with Google, ChatGPT and others.
BERLIN — Ugreen is best known for chargers, cables and other accessories. But at its IFA 2026 launch event here, the company showed something far more ambitious: a smart home hub called HomeAgent that uses local AI as its brain.
The HomeAgent series is expensive and unproven. But it rethinks what a smart-home hub can be. It also raises the question: By the time Apple enters the smart home market, will local AI already be the norm?
Apple’s new support document explains how you can speed up Spotlight indexing on your device. It also goes into detail about how Spotlight indexing works.
Many iPhone, iPad and Mac users will face this indexing slowdown once Apple releases its next-generation operating systems next month.
Apple’s deal to bring its AI tools to China finally cleared Beijing’s regulatory hurdles, paving the way for Apple Intelligence to launch in the country. Apple trained its own large language model specifically for Chinese devices, but leaned on Alibaba’s support to pull it off.
Apple reportedly wants to secure content deals with publishers to give Siri AI access to the latest news and information. It is supposedly proposing multi-year agreements with publishers for this.
As part of the deal, Apple will pay publishers every time their content is used or displayed in Siri AI.
After almost a month-long gap, Apple rolled out iOS 27 beta 5 to developers on Monday. With September fast approaching, the new beta adds the necessary polish before the OS’s public release this fall.
Below are all the changes spotted in iOS 27 beta 5 so far, including the (possible) name of the first folding iPhone.
When Siri AI launches in the fall, the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot will be available at no extra cost on the devices that support it, but that could change in the future. Apple CEO Tim Cook raised the possibility on Thursday.
Here’s what we know now.
After years of lagging the competition, Apple is “nearly ready to launch” three new smart devices, according to a new report. An updated Apple TV and HomePod mini will debut as soon as this fall.
There’s also the long-rumored smart home hub, which could arrive anytime between October and early next year.
Apple released the first iOS 27 public beta Monday, giving everyday iPhone users a chance to experience the latest features.
By most accounts, it’s stable enough to download now and run without too much worry. The biggest bummer is that you’ll still need to get in line to experience the new, improved Siri AI.