Apple confirms iPad can be used as a hub for HomeKit
Apple's update for HomeKit may make the Apple TV even more important, with its addition of remote access to control things from afar, but it turns out you don't actually need the set-top box. In an ideal setup - and certainly …
Context & Ripple Effects
When Apple first documented HomeKit in mid-2015, the Apple TV was confirmed as the gateway device, and by early that year Siri could only run HomeKit scenes while you were away if an Apple TV was on the network. Remote access effectively meant owning a set-top box nobody asked for.
This update quietly breaks that dependency: an iPad already sitting in the living room can now serve as the hub. That matters because it lowers the entry cost of HomeKit's most useful feature — off-premises control — to zero for anyone who owns both devices.
First-order effects
- HomeKit owners with an iPad but no Apple TV gain remote access immediately, removing the set-top box purchase that was previously the price of controlling lights or locks from outside the home.
- Apple TV loses its monopoly position as the sole HomeKit gateway, weakening one of its few non-media selling points.
Second-order effects
- Apple TV must now compete on entertainment merits rather than being a required accessory for the smart home, while the iPad picks up a passive always-on role that gives households another reason to keep one charged and at home.
Third-order effects
- If the hub keeps softening into software rather than hardware — a direction Apple reinforced in 2017 with software-based authentication and streamlined HomeKit review labs — the smart home hub becomes a capability any qualifying Apple device carries, not a box on a shelf.
The trend: Smart-home hub duty is migrating from dedicated gateway hardware like the Apple TV toward whatever Apple device is already in the room.