Apple's smart home device will be the AI center of the household, with it potentially becoming the poster child for Apple's new "intelligent personal hub" strategy. During the Apple keynote, new CEO John Ternus laid out the company's plans for the future, including what is described as an "intelligent personal hub" approach. If a report is right, the long-rumored Home Hub will do that for the home, as the iPhone does for the person.

Outlined in the "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg on Sunday, Mark Gurman writes that the rumored smart display will serve as the anchor for the home. It will bring together a person's digital connected life, including device controls, video calls, and media. The newsletter goes out of its way to suggest that Ternus' characterization of iPhone as an already-existing "intelligent personal hub" is in some way meant to protect the company from Open AI's impending hardware product.

Then it goes on to describe Apple's second hub, one for the home, suggesting that Ternus has a bad hand of cards and is running out of plays in light of Open AI's still non-existent hardware platform. Open AI's current known cash burn is $1.25 per dollar it earns, if that says anything about the danger Apple faces. Referred to as J490, the Apple Home Hub will use an operating system focused on Siri AI, and is apparently being tested in employees' homes.

It also allegedly matches Ternus' description of an intelligent personal hub. Gurman goes on to reiterate various previously-rumored elements, such as the square-ish display that uses a desk-based stand that looks like half a HomePod mini, or attaches to a wall mount using magnets. It will use facial recognition to identify users, to personalize the information it displays to that individual.

However, it will do so without a Face ID-level depth sensor. Apparently, this feat could result in facial recognition in a future iPhone Duo update, without necessarily requiring the physical space for the sensor array. The hub will have a home screen, widgets, and clock faces, but Siri will be the main feature.

It will be able to bring up information across the user's devices and accounts, play pertinent podcasts and songs, and also carry out more precise tasks. One thing that is still missing is a release date. So far, all of the hype about the device implies it is coming soon, possibly this fall, though when exactly is still a mystery.