Tim Cook took several years to steer Apple into new hardware territories, such as the smartwatch. In contrast, John Ternus might kick off his leadership with a bold venture into smart home technology.

There are strong indications that Apple is gearing up to unveil a robust lineup of smart home devices, possibly as soon as this fall. This move could mark Apple’s return to a market segment where it has lagged in recent years.

With Ternus at the helm, the likelihood of Apple diving deeply into the smart home arena seems more promising than under Cook’s leadership. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Ternus was initially hesitant a decade ago to heavily invest in the smart home sector, partly contributing to Apple’s slow progress in this area. However, he is now reportedly at the forefront of developing a trio of home products.

For years, Apple has fallen behind in smart home hardware as competitors like Amazon and Google introduced over 40 smart speakers and displays, while Apple managed just three. Nonetheless, Apple has focused on creating a privacy-centric, locally managed platform for third-party devices. Although adoption was sluggish at first, Apple’s engagement with the Matter standard has significantly accelerated growth. Despite this progress, Apple Home hardware has been scarce, a situation that might soon see a turnaround if current speculations hold true.

One of the anticipated innovations is the “HomePad,” a smart display rumored to be around 7 inches square. It is expected to feature facial recognition, FaceTime capabilities, presence detection, and the ability to control smart home devices such as lights, locks, and cameras. Reports suggest two versions: one that can be wall-mounted using a MagSafe mount and another with a speaker base similar to the HomePod Mini. Such a device could address a common issue in smart homes—enabling shared control so that every household member can interact with it, and the system responds to each individual rather than being tethered to a single user’s phone.

Then there are rumors of dedicated Apple Home smart home devices, including home security cameras, a video doorbell, and a standalone sensor. Featuring facial recognition and presence sensors, the cameras could feed into Apple Home and a smarter Siri to provide it with context as to who is at home, when, and where. This would be a crucial element in unlocking the benefits of AI in the smart home, aiming to create a more ambient experience than today’s command-and-control interface.

Privacy-focused cameras are the only way people will be comfortable with this kind of visual awareness, and Apple already has a solution here. Cameras connected to its HomeKit Secure Video service can be set to detect activity without allowing for streaming video or recording.

Physical sensors will also play a role; newer HomePods are equipped with UWB, and the rumored Apple Home sensor could feed into a home security system and be key to whole-home orchestration.

Then there’s the long-rumored home robot, a tabletop device with a display mounted on a robotic arm. While a home device, this product also fits into the broader AI story. Based on a paper published last year, Apple may be exploring imbuing it with a personality, creating a type of physical AI that provides companionship as well as utility. This shift is something we will certainly see more of in the smart home, and Apple could be a leader here.

On the software side, there’s a real need for unification and a focus on the AI use case in the home. A new homeOS that merges tvOS and HomePod software is long overdue, and could be the foundation of an AI-powered brain to run your smart home. This could be revealed at WWDC this June, setting the stage for Apple Home’s renaissance. The other relevant rumors include a new chip coming to a HomePod Mini 2 and a next-gen Apple TV, which could bring full support for the new voice assistant features, plus — crucially — the ability to process most commands locally.

Apple’s failure to innovate in smart home hardware may have been due to its low priority within the company. But now, several forces are converging. Matter, the smart home standard Apple helped develop, is finally bringing real interoperability to the platform. The cancellation of the Apple Car project reportedly freed up significant engineering resources for the Apple Home. And AI is poised to reshape the functionality of smart homes.

Of course, Siri is the obvious holdup here. The long-stalled generative AI revamp that should bring a smarter, more context-aware assistant to the home could be the glue that will hold the hardware together. But it seems it’s all hands on deck at Apple to work out this problem. Amazon’s Alexa Plus and Google’s Gemini for Home have shown the potential of LLM-powered smart-home voice assistants, even if the reality is still very messy. When a smarter Siri does arrive, expectations are high that Apple will follow its traditional playbook — entering late but brilliantly.

For Ternus, the challenge of the smart home now lies in the execution. With the pieces in place, Apple’s smart home could go from side project to a core priority at Cupertino. The question is whether the new CEO can assemble them. And if he can channel Apple’s internal quest for perfection, characterized by the Cook era, into a drive that can take this potentially game-changing product category to fruition. For a company that has spent a decade building a foundation, now is the moment to finally move in.