Apple's long-rumored "homeOS" operating system might finally be on the horizon, based on recent trademark activity reviewed by MacRumors.
An apparent shell company known as Home Operations Suite LLC has submitted trademark applications for "HOMEOS" in a handful of countries in recent months. A priority filing was made in Liechtenstein in October 2024, and additional filings were made in the United States, Argentina, Peru, and a few other countries in April this year.
The trademark is now registered in Liechtenstein, but the applications are still pending elsewhere.
The trademark filing in the U.S. was first spotted by Parker Ortolani and reported by 9to5Mac.
There is no definitive proof that Apple owns the shell company, but it has a history of creating limited-liability companies with generic names in order to discreetly move to protect its intellectual property related to unannounced products.
For example, in May 2023, MacRumors uncovered a "VisionOS" trademark application filed by another secretive LLC shell company. A month later, at WWDC, Apple announced its Vision Pro headset and its visionOS operating system.
"homeOS" has been referenced in various other places in the past, including in Apple job listings, and in tvOS 17.4 code discovered by MacRumors. It could end up being the name of the software platform that powers Apple's long-rumored smart home hub, which has been described as a HomePod with a screen. The device will reportedly have a square iPad-like screen that can be attached to a speaker base or mounted on a wall.
The hub would allow users to control smart home accessories, make FaceTime video calls, use Apple's intercom feature between rooms in a house, and more. It might even double as a home security system with an Apple-designed smart home camera.
In March, Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the HomePod with a screen would enter mass production in the third quarter of 2025, but it is unclear if it will ship to customers this year or next year. Apple delayed the personalized Siri features that are expected to be at the core of the device, so perhaps next year is a safer bet at this point. However, Apple could still provide an early preview of the home hub at any point now, and its WWDC 2025 keynote just so happens to be coming up next week. Stay tuned!
