“Home Hub” and tabletop robots: Apple apparently finds manufacturers – not in China

Apple’s project for a new control center for the smart home has been going on for several years – and is said to have been postponed several times due to external circumstances. Most recently, a release of the “Home Hub” reportedly failed in June 2025 and also in October because the improvements for Apple’s Siri voice assistant had to be postponed until (presumably) next spring. But now at least the first production details for the device seem to be in place, as well as for a possible direct successor. This is what the financial news agency writes Bloomberg.

Not China or India, but Vietnam

According to the report, the “Home Hub” comes neither from the People’s Republic of China nor from Apple’s increasingly important second location India, but from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. This fits quite well, as Apple now uses the country more often for accessory products, such as AirPods, HomePods and Apple Watch. But some Mac models and iPads are also assembled there.

A special feature this time would be that Apple is going directly to Vietnam with the Home Hub and is not waiting for an initial production in China. Normally, products are only manufactured in the People’s Republic in order to avoid possible problems at other locations. However, the People’s Republic is not completely out of production: BYD, the Chinese battery and electric car giant, is to take over the local management of production in Vietnam, according to Bloomberg. The company is responsible for the three steps of final assembly, quality testing and packaging. BYD will continue to help expand Vietnamese iPad production, it said.

Details about the “Home Hub” and the tabletop robot

Bloomberg further writes that Apple is planning two versions of the “Home Hub”. One, codenamed J490, consists of a screen mounted on a speaker base. The second variant, codenamed J491, is intended to be hung on the wall. Apparently, the screens are each a square model, which is rather small (but larger than an iPhone). Both devices come with a FaceTime camera for video chats and have a new interface that is supposed to adapt to the user. Apps are apparently not planned at the beginning. The new operating system could be called “homeOS”.

The next project is even more exciting: a “tabletop robot”. Apple had already shown such a device in a research paper. The idea is a motorized arm that can align itself with the user. Apple is reportedly still looking for suitable AI applications for the hardware, which is expected to cost several hundred dollars (if not more). A release is reportedly scheduled for 2027.