Apple’s silence about HomePod and Apple TV at WWDC spoke volumes

WWDC 2026 was almost entirely focused on AI announcements. Apple introduced Siri AI, expanded the capabilities of Apple Intelligence across the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and spent a significant amount of time discussing how AI enables new ways for users to interact with their devices using natural language.

But as I watched the event, there was one glaring omission. I couldn’t stop thinking about two major products that Apple didn’t mention during the keynote: HomePod and Apple TV. There wasn’t even a small teaser of what’s coming for Apple’s home accessories.

And honestly, that silence says a lot. Because if there’s one thing WWDC 2026 made clear, it’s that Apple’s future AI ambitions require far more powerful hardware than the company’s current smart home devices can deliver.

Apple Intelligence has outgrown the current HomePod

After all the AI announcements at WWDC 2026, the current HomePod lineup now seems like a thing of the past, stuck in another era of Siri.

The HomePod mini still runs on the S5 chip from the Apple Watch Series 5, while the 2nd-generation HomePod uses the S7 chip originally introduced in the Apple Watch Series 7. Both are perfectly capable of playing music, handling timers, and controlling HomeKit accessories.

However, these chips were never designed for modern AI workloads. And after seeing what Siri AI can now do in iOS 27, it’s becoming obvious that Apple’s smart home products need a massive hardware refresh.

The new Siri isn’t just answering simple commands anymore. It understands conversational context, remembers previous interactions, analyzes content on-screen, and integrates deeply with apps and personal data.

This requires significantly more memory and processing power than any current HomePod has. The new Siri AI has the same requirements as Apple Intelligence: the A17 Pro or M1 chip or later. But to get a more advanced AI model, you need a device with the A19 Pro or M3 chip or later. On the Apple Watch, which uses the same SiP as the HomePod, support is limited to devices with the S9 chip and later.

This is probably why Apple avoided talking about both the HomePod and Apple TV at WWDC.

The rumored HomePad suddenly makes a lot more sense

For months now, rumors have suggested Apple has been working on an entirely new smart home category.

Macworld previously revealed references in leaked code pointing to a mystery Apple smart home accessory with a display, app support, and deeper HomeKit integration. Other leaked references also pointed toward updated HomePod mini hardware and new wireless technologies being tested internally.

Other sources have claimed that these products have been ready for some time but have had their release delayed. After WWDC 2026, it became clearer that Apple was waiting for Siri AI before updating its smart home accessories.

Apple clearly wants Siri AI to become a central interface layer across its ecosystem, and the rumored HomePad would instantly become the perfect product to showcase all the capabilities of Apple’s new assistant. A device with a larger display, a more powerful chip, and deeper AI integration could finally give Apple a proper AI-focused home hub.

Right now, the HomePod sits in an awkward position compared to competitors. Amazon and Google already treat their smart displays as AI-first devices. Apple’s current HomePods still largely behave like traditional smart speakers with limited voice commands mostly focused on music and basic commands.

But with Siri AI, HomePods would become much more useful. Not only would you be able to ask it to play your favorite songs in a more natural way, but you could also ask about things related to your messages, emails, and calendar without having to pick up your phone.

Apple TV + Siri AI

The same problem applies to the Apple TV. According to recent rumors, Apple has been working on a new Apple TV model powered by the A17 Pro chip. That’s a massive leap compared to the current Apple TV hardware, which still runs on the iPhone 13’s A15 chip.

When this rumor first surfaced, some people thought there was no need for a device mainly designed for streaming to have such a powerful chip. Of course, games would benefit from the improved GPU in the A17 Pro chip, but there’s probably another side to the story.

The A17 Pro chip would also allow Apple to bring Apple Intelligence support to Apple TV. And in this new era of Siri AI, that would make perfect sense.

Imagine being able to ask Siri contextual questions about what you’re watching, having AI-generated recommendations based on conversations happening in Messages, or controlling your smart home naturally through the TV without outdated voice commands.

Those experiences require far more powerful hardware than the current Apple TV was originally designed around. And just like with HomePod, Apple wasn’t ready to talk about those ambitions publicly yet since the current hardware isn’t capable.

This new era could begin later this year

Apple didn’t skip the HomePod or Apple TV at WWDC because it forgot about those products or because they aren’t important.

The company clearly knows Siri’s reputation in the smart home space hasn’t been great. The old version of Siri struggled with conversational requests, misunderstood commands frequently, and often felt unreliable compared to newer AI assistants.

That’s why Apple seems to be waiting for new hardware that can deliver the same Siri AI experience that the latest iPhones, iPads, and Macs already offer. And this new hardware may arrive later this year.

Given that there are clear references to these devices in the code of the latest version of iOS, and that other sources have already confirmed that new versions of the HomePod and Apple TV have been ready for quite some time, the announcement is now imminent.

And what better time to announce these new products than after the official launch of iOS 27 and Siri AI this fall? More than just software updates, we may finally see the announcement of products designed with Siri AI in mind. And that’s incredibly exciting for those of us who rely on Apple’s smart home ecosystem.