Apple Launches $299 HomeView Hub With New Smart Home Devices

Apple has announced a new range of smart home products, led by the $299 HomeView, a display-equipped hub designed to bring home automation, entertainment, and communication together in one place. The launch marks a renewed effort by the company to compete with Amazon and Google in the connected-home market while introducing a more capable version of its Siri voice assistant.

Make your home smart on 13 October the company announced HomeView, a seven-inch Liquid Retina display device with voice control, video calling, personalised content and smart home controls. Apple has promoted the device as a hub for smart homes, with quick access to things like your calendar messages music and FaceTime with compatible accessories.

Design and features the HomeView has a sleek and small form factor that is designed to sit on a tabletop or hang on a wall. Its display enables access to home controls, information, and entertainment, offering a different experience from controlling the smart home separately on a smartphone.

Use FaceTime to call with the built-in 12-megapixel camera, or have a hands-free chat with microphones and speakers. Show photos, listen to music and watch videos, or control your lights, locks, cameras, and thermostats on the screen.

One of its key selling points is facial recognition, which enables HomeView to identify individual members of a household and offer a personalised experience. Apple says it will recognise as many as six members of a household and provide them with relevant information, such as calendars and messages.

The HomeView launch also is tied to Apple’s initiative to make Siri conversational and more useful. The device employs Apple Intelligence-enabled Siri AI, which Apple claims delivers wider knowledge, richer music discovery, and awareness of the information visible on the screen.

When connected to a compatible Apple Intelligence enabled device, HomeView can use relevant personal context to assist in a more useful way. This may make simple requests like checking upcoming appointments or routines more effortless.

During its presentation, Apple used Siri to answer inquires representing various family members illustrating the company’s concept of a common assistant that recognizes various users in a household.

But the usefulness of these features will depend on how consistently they work, what languages they support and how well they perform in real-world environments. Apple’s voice assistant, which has competed hard against rivals, will find out how well its new features work for its smart home business.

Besides HomeView, Apple unveiled the Home Collection, a series of smart home accessories that was created with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric.

Security cameras for indoors and outdoors, a video doorbell thermostats temperature sensors and a smart door lock are among the items. They’re meant to work with the Apple Home app and will be configured with a single tap on the iPhone. Apple says users won’t need separate accounts or dedicated apps for the accessories that work with the devices.

The accessories broaden the tech giant’s product lineup away from its own popular devices, and provide consumers with additional ways to track their homes, control who comes and goes, and set the right temperature. Launches will probably start as early as December, with a few devices coming in early 2027.