New hardware could put Apple back in the race, but software will determine whether it wins.
The Current State of Apple's Smart Home Ambitions
Apple has long been a quiet player in the smart home, with HomeKit offering a secure but often restrictive foundation. As of 2026, the landscape has shifted dramatically. The Matter standard—which Apple helped develop—has finally matured, enabling cross-platform compatibility and raising consumer expectations for seamless integration. Meanwhile, competitors like Amazon and Google have continued to iterate aggressively, leaving Apple's ecosystem feeling fragmented.
Hardware Is Only Half the Battle
Rumors persist that Apple is preparing a new wave of smart home hardware: a redesigned HomePod with a display, a more powerful Apple TV with Thread border router capabilities, and possibly a dedicated smart home hub. But as Jennifer Pattison Tuohy argues in The Verge, hardware alone won't win the war.
"New hardware could put Apple back in the race, but software will determine whether it wins," she writes. That sentiment rings truer than ever in 2026. With Matter and Thread now widely adopted, consumers expect their devices to work together regardless of brand. Apple's strength has always been its integrated software experience—but the Home app has lagged behind rivals in usability, automation flexibility, and third-party support.
The Software Gap Apple Must Close
To truly compete, Apple needs to overhaul the Home app. That means:
- Simpler automation creation: Competitors offer intuitive visual builders; Apple's remains clunky.
- Better device support: While Matter helps, many popular devices still lack full feature parity on HomeKit.
- Cross-platform intelligence: Siri needs to understand context and control devices reliably, something Alexa and Google Assistant have improved upon significantly.
- Local processing: Apple's privacy-first stance gives it an edge—if it can deliver fast, reliable local control without cloud dependency.
2026: A Pivotal Year
With Matter 1.4 rolling out and Thread adoption soaring, 2026 is a make-or-break year for Apple in the smart home. The company has the brand loyalty, the privacy story, and the hardware ecosystem to dominate. But without a software experience that matches the simplicity and power of its competitors, it risks remaining a niche player in a market that's finally going mainstream.
As Tuohy concludes, the race is far from over—but the window for Apple to lead is narrowing. The next 12 months will reveal whether Apple can turn its hardware ambitions into a software triumph.
via The Verge