Sources: Apple working on Siri-based smart home device to control appliances, lights, curtains, locks, and more
Bloomberg Anywhere Remote LoginBloomberg Anywhere Login — Product would control appliances, lights, door locks and more — Apple is also trying to improve Siri on iPhones and iPads
Context & Ripple Effects
This 2016 report is the earliest data point in what the related coverage shows is a near-decade-long Apple effort to make Siri the control surface of the home. The through-line runs from an Andreas Gal-led smart home team formed in 2019, to a combined Apple TV–HomePod product with a FaceTime camera reported in 2021, to the 6-inch wall-mounted display Bloomberg sources described in late 2024.
What makes the 2016 device notable in hindsight is its dependency: it leans entirely on Siri, which Bloomberg separately reported was due for an AI overhaul letting Siri command features inside apps. The hardware ambitions in every subsequent report are only as good as the assistant inside them.
First-order effects
- Apple gains a dedicated home-hardware entry point beyond iPhone and iPad, putting Siri in front of appliances, lighting, curtains, and door locks rather than only pocket devices.
- Appliance, lighting, and lock makers get a new integration target: supporting Siri-based control becomes a requirement for reaching Apple's installed base.
Second-order effects
- Because the device is only as capable as Siri, Apple's parallel work to improve Siri on iPhones and iPads becomes a gating factor — assistant quality now directly constrains home-hardware shipping decisions.
- A working Siri home controller gives Apple a reason to keep expanding the category, which the coverage shows it did with the wall display and the Apple TV–HomePod hybrid rather than treating the 2016 device as a one-off.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the home becomes a platform contest decided by who owns the household control layer — the same logic behind Apple's later AI-driven home plans for speakers, cameras, and even robotics.
- Siri's role shifts from phone feature to ambient household interface, meaning Apple's assistant investments compound across every device in the home instead of paying off only where the phone is present.
The trend: Apple has spent the better part of a decade iterating toward Siri as the ambient control layer of the home, with each hardware report — hub, speaker-display, wall panel — raising the stakes on the assistant's underlying intelligence.