If you’re like many early Apple Home adopters, you’ve stuck around with the original HomePod from 2018, and you’ve had no reason to update in the seven years since. Don’t worry, you’re still able to keep on keeping on with your original HomeKit devices, but if you don’t update now, you could be in for a world of headaches.
Apple is ending support for the early version of Apple Home starting today, Tuesday, Feb. 10. If you don’t bother to get the latest version of Apple HomeKit, your HomePod, Apple TV box, or connected smart light bulbs may become inoperable. Apple is telling users that they should have already received a prompt to update to the latest version of Apple Home. If you can’t find it, then just go to the Home app, hit the three dots in the top right corner, and then click on My Home Settings. You should see an update option in your current setup that updates all homes on your account.
The bigger issue will come from anybody using older Apple hardware who may still be using an older version of iOS. You need to be using iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2, macOS 13.1, tvOS 16.2, or watchOS 9.2 at a minimum to keep your Home devices operational. The reason it’s being gatekept is that the modern HomeKit architecture arrived around the same time as iOS 16.4 in 2023. This added support for the open-source Matter connectivity standard. It also made the app and multi-device connectivity more reliable overall.
However, if you use an iPad as a smart home hub, that’s unfortunately going the way of the dodo. The idea might’ve made sense in the past, but the fact that taking your iPad out of the house could render the whole setup inoperable makes it a bit impractical.
At least we could see a new ‘HomePad’
Amazon’s latest Echo Show devices seem close to the description of Apple’s rumored ‘iPad with a speaker’ Home device. © Adriano Contreras / GizmodoApple will only allow you to use a HomePod or Apple TV as a hub going forward. The 2023 2nd-gen HomePod is still the latest version of Apple’s smart speaker. There are rumors that Apple could launch a new speaker in 2026. This could simply be a new HomePod Mini to replace the original from 2020. Either way, it’s clear that Apple desperately needs more modern devices to help us actually use its new Home apps.
However, Apple may offer a new smart home device similar to the Amazon Echo Show or the Google Nest Hub, likely featuring a screen. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggested more than a year ago that Apple’s next “HomePad,” or whatever it’s actually called, would help operate your connected smart home products. Code sleuths have also pinpointed that the HomePad will likely feature a built-in 1080p camera for FaceTime calls.
The delay of a real AI-centric Siri likely put those plans on hold. This new device could hit the scene in the next few months. It makes sense that Apple should finally remove the chaff from its old Home architecture for the sake of the new. In effect, this will give the actual AI-enhanced Siri a new platform to demonstrate its capabilities. We have not had a positive experience with an AI-powered Google or Amazon smart home ecosystem. Apple will have a difficult time convincing customers that yelling at a HomePad will be any better than the rigmarole of pleading with Google Gemini or Amazon Alexa+ to actually do what they’re told to.
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