Apple’s long-awaited smart home hub could be introduced “as early as next month,” according to Mark Gurman in the latest Power On newsletter (via Bloomberg). Gurman calls the device one of the most anticipated launches of CEO John Ternus’ early tenure, alongside the iPhone Duo and a still-pending touch-screen MacBook. Dubbed J490 inside Apple, it is reportedly being tested widely in employees’ homes and has a roughly square screen, with versions that sit on a stand, resembling a HomePod mini chopped in half, or attach to a wall. Gurman says it is most similar to an Amazon Echo Show but with a considerably smaller screen. Facial recognition through the front-facing camera lets the display identify who is looking at it and personalize apps, notes, calendar appointments, news, music, and podcasts, without a standard Face ID-level depth sensor. The killer feature is Siri, which Apple had planned to debut as far back as 2024 but could not launch until Siri AI was ready; Siri AI was formally released this month as part of iOS 27. On the hub, Siri can look up information across devices and accounts, play a podcast or song someone sent a while ago, find an image to display, carry out precise tasks in Notes, Reminders, and Calendar, and conduct complex searches within an Apple interface. The hub runs a new operating system built around Siri AI, with a home screen, widgets, and clock faces