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Apple's got big plans for your smart home.
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This week on the Cult of Mac podcast: Apple’s about to make a big push into the smart home arena. We already knew about the impending launch of an intriguing new smart home hub, but the revelation that Apple is working with at least two other companies to produce new devices takes things to a whole new level.

The big question remains: How will Apple differentiate its smart home platform from everything else on the market? There’s plenty to discuss.

Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:

• Apple will unveil that smart home hub next Tuesday at a special “Apple Experience” for a small group of media and influencers. That likely means no traditional streaming keynote of Apple’s “Welcome Home” event.
• The rumor mill already gave us a pretty thorough idea of what to expect from Apple’s about-to-launch home hub. It sounds like a nice enough device, but software special sauce might make it super-compelling.
• While probably not coming next week, Apple’s also reportedly working on smart cameras you can put in your home. The catch is that they won’t record actual video. Instead, they’ll just gather data for Siri AI to use. Kind of a weird concept … we discuss the pros and cons.
• The first touchscreen MacBook Pro is also rumored to arrive this month. Maybe we should call this wacky month of product launches “Oktoberbest.”

Listen to this week’s episode of the Cult of Mac podcast in Apple’s Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. Or watch the video version, embedded below. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!)

Cult of Mac No. 36: Apple’s smart home plans

This week’s top Apple news

On the show this week: Your host, Cult of Mac Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Leander Kahney (@lkahney), Cult of Mac managing editor Lewis Wallace (@lewiswallace) and our colleague Graham Bower from the Apple Core podcast.

Here are the headlines we’re talking about on this week’s show:

• Apple teases new smart-home products with ‘Welcome Home’ event next week
• Apple teams up with LG to make smart home devices
• Apple’s smart home plan sounds bigger and bolder than you might think
• Apple smart home hub rumors: What we know
• Everything we expect from Apple’s Mac and iPad event on October 27