Apple Plans Smart-Home Push on October 13 Featuring New Hub, Bloomberg Reports

Apple is preparing a major push into the smart-home market scheduled for October 13, according to a Bloomberg News report. The initiative centers on a new smart-home hub code-named J490 alongside hardware refreshes for the connected-home lineup. The rollout includes the first update to the HomePod mini since its 2020 debut, as well as the first new Apple TV set-top box release since 2022. The strategic expansion follows internal delays and is designed to strengthen ecosystem lock-in while generating incremental hardware and recurring services revenue.