Apple is Writing Product Checks That Siri Can't Cash
Mark Gurman
The beatings will continue until Siri improves, it seems:
Apple Inc.’s artificial intelligence struggles are rippling through its product plans, forcing the company to delay a long-in-the-works smart home display until later this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The product, code-named J490, was first scheduled for spring 2025 but was postponed to let the company finish work on a new Siri digital assistant — an integral piece of the device’s interface.
Apple had then planned to release the display this month, when it hoped the new Siri would be ready, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. With Siri delayed again, Apple is now postponing the smart home device once more.
Likely until the fall, Gurman reports. Perhaps tied to iOS/tvOS 27. Yes, a device initially targeted for 2025 will likely end up shipping with an OS tied to 2027. And not because the hardware isn't ready – always the hardest part of shipping any product, of course – but because of the software. And not even really the OS, but rather one aspect of the OS: Siri.
And it hardly seems like the 'HomePad' is alone in this regard. Previous reports had updated Apple TV and HomePod hardware ready to roll, only not to roll because Siri is not ready to roll. Heads have already rolled as a result of this debacle years in the making, so we'll have to settle for eyes rolling here.
Look, I remain cautiously optimistic about the updated version of Siri, solely because Google is providing the underlying AI technology and they've proven to be more than competent in this regard. But clearly – clearly – Apple is still having issues implementing it. Which, as previously discussed, probably shouldn't have been a huge surprise – you can't just swap and slot this stuff in, as there are about a million edge cases that will break, as Amazon clearly learned the hard way too – but it does lead to the question of why Apple thought they could still ship something like this so soon after the Siri brain transplant?
Of course, they might say that there weren't announced plans to ship any of this. Which is technically true, but really just continues to point to why the constant, detailed leaks, mainly from Gurman, are such a black eye and problem for the company. Gurman has a high enough hit rate on both grand and granular plans within Apple that's there's simply no reason not to trust his reporting on matters such as product launch strategies and timing. And so the world – at least the business/Apple fan world that watches the company closely – fully believes that Apple intended to ship the 'HomePad' in Spring 2025. But Siri issues saw this slip until Spring 2026, with the first Gemini-powered version of Siri. But with that delayed, now we're looking at the Fall of 2026. And it's certainly reasonable to wonder if we won't see any kind of updated Siri functionality until then (though presumably still talked about at WWDC in June – after decidedly not being talked about at last year's WWDC – after the fiasco that was WWDC 2024).
Anyway, this clearly showcases the very real downsides and downstream effects of bad strategic decisions made years ago. Because Apple so badly bungled their AI strategy in 2023 and 2024, they're missing shipping targets for actual products in 2025 and 2026.
Are they going to have to upgrade the 'HomePad' with a newer chip than they intended to use for the product because two generations of Apple Silicon will have passed? Ditto with the new HomePods and Apple TV? That obviously has very real bottom line impact.
This also puts a lot more pressure on the 'HomePad' device itself, which a new category for Apple. Because they've held back for so long to get it right, it better be right? I'm still not clear what the actual use case is supposed to be. Seemingly an iPad designed to be the main computing hub in the home, but many already use regular iPads – and iPhones for this. The ability to apparently use FaceID to tailor the device to who is nearby seems clever, but they could have and should have added such account switching to the iPad years ago. It also sounds like a HomePod with a screen to mirror what Amazon and Google have been offering, but it's not like the HomePod itself has blown the doors off the smart home, with a bad initial strategy there also forcing Apple to retrench and reboot once.
Oh but this will have AI! I mean... I hope so?
M.G. Siegler
M.G. Siegler
M.G. Siegler