Macworld writer Jason Snell today published a thought-provoking piece titled "It's time for new hardware at the heart of Apple's home strategy," which is worth reading, especially if you belong to the camp that thinks it's time for Apple Home.

He writes:

Apple can contribute to the smart home industry and its own baselines by doing what it does best, namely creating a new product that is a fusion of hardware, software and cloud services. It's time for Apple to create a product that will make your home smarter and more secure. It's time for Apple Home.

And what would it be? Think of a completely new hardware device that combines the wireless functionality of your company's AirPort routers and wireless devices with a good-sized Apple TV and HomePod, which also doubles as a soundbar for your phone. .

Last year, I suggested Apple create a new version of Apple TV and HomePod that functions as a TV soundbar. I'd love to see that product.

Apple is currently somewhat vague with Snell's imaginary device, a software feature that turns the Apple TV media streamer or iPad into a HomeKit hub that allows remote control of smart accessories via Siri and the Home app. .

Apple is providing the Home app for iPhone, iPad and Mac.

However, a dedicated device could do much more:

Consider how smart a “smart home” could become if there is a device in the center of it, orchestrating different devices through simple and complex automation rules? Imagine a more powerful device that has always been attached to your devices and could make them work in concert. Do you still receive it? These are not different products. It's a single hardware product, Apple Home.

An Apple TV-type puck that could be connected to a cable modem or equivalent router:

It would take over the management of your home network and you could add additional devices to spread the Wi-Fi signal in your home. Apple could sell additional Apple Home chips, Apple Home wireless repeaters that connect to wall sockets, and even integrate this feature in a future update to Apple TV.

Of course, it also ran a HomeKit server that would act as a central hub for all home automation and provide optional local storage for a HomeKit secure video archive if you're not comfortable streaming these videos over your home internet connection. .

An automatic VPN service that enhances your privacy is also a hassle-free tool:

Not only could it release a software update to allow iPad, iPhone, and Mac users to automatically log in when away from home, but Apple Home itself would encrypt all data inside and outside the home, keeping them protected. by anyone trying to analyze traffic or use the IP address to track users.

Does that mean Apple should start building HomeKit accessories too?

No, Apple doesn't need to build a security camera, a smart lock, a video ring or a thermostat. These ancillary products are exactly the kind of work that third-party hardware companies are very good at. What Apple offers is intelligence right at the heart of the experience - and that means the home and home network.

So eliminating AirPort was a huge mistake then?

Removing AirPort was not a mistake. The real mistake was not to replace it with a next generation product that could be the hub of a home network, a secure bridge to the rest of the internet, a device that connects a constellation of smart-home devices together and makes it all work. work. together and we make sense.

It's time for Apple to return to the center of our homes.

Apple may already be moving in this direction as it continues to lay the foundations of this supposed piece of smart home hardware. For example, the company seems eager to contribute to the smart home industry, as it recently teamed up with Amazon and other competitors, an alliance to encourage smart home interoperability. Moreover, Apple recently opened HomeKit portions, and CES last year hired a new head of household products.

This is what the Secure Video HomeKit interface looks like.

While Shawn King put it beautifully at The Loop, Snell's imagined device should have been "the natural extension of Jobs's vision for the house he long ago presented at a Macnorld Expo." keynote ".

It seems that Apple hopes to bring order to the chaos of smart homes, doesn't it? What are your thoughts on Snell's Apple Home dreams? You think such an accessory would make sense, you think. And maybe more importantly, would you buy it if Apple were to launch it?

Tell us by leaving a comment below.