MARCH 2020 MACWORLD 9Apple AirPort
Extreme.internet connection. What if that video
could be saved locally on an encrypted
device?
Finally, consider how much more
intelligent a “smart home” could become if
there’s a device at the center of it,
orchestrating different devices through
automation rules both simple and
complex? Currently Apple has
implemented an initial version of this
concept that runs on the Apple TV or an
iPad (so long as it stays in the house).
Imagine a more powerful device that was
always attached to your devices and could
make them work in concert.
Are you getting it yet? These aren’t
different products. It’s a single hardware
product, the Apple Home.
A SINGLE PUCK TO RULE IT ALL
What I’m envisioning is a device shaped
very much like the Apple TV, which you
plug in to your cable modem or equivalent
router. It would take over the
administration of your home network, and
you could add additional devices to
spread its Wi-Fi signal across your house.
(Apple could sell additional Apple Home
pucks, wireless Apple Home repeaters
that plug into wall jacks, and could even
integrate this functionality in a future
update to the Apple TV.)
But this device isn’t just a replacement
for the AirPort base station. It’s running
Apple’s
HomeKit
server, so it
can serve as
the hub for
home
automations.
Perhaps it could
even be outfitted with
a few different radios, so it would be able
to act as a bridge to control other smart
home devices that currently require
separate hubs, like the Lutron Caseta and
Philips Hue bridges I currently have in my
house.
Adding optional storage for a local
HomeKit Secure Video archive seems like
a no-brainer—and would allow Apple to
charge extra for larger storage options. I’d
also suggest Apple take a page out of its
old Time Machine product and offer the
ability to add more storage and work as a
backup server. (Even better, allow that
local backup to sync itself with iCloud,
which in turn will promote the purchase of
more iCloud storage space.)
Apple’s always looking for new
services to add to its portfolio, and given