Apple Unveils HomeView – a new smart home hub with a 7-inch touchscreen and Siri AI voice assistant, powered by Apple Intelligence. The device will be available in desktop and wall-mounted versions, and sales begin November 13 for $299.
“Apple HomeView is designed to be shared by everyone in the home, but to feel completely personal to each user“, said Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. According to him, the device recognizes household members' faces, offers personalized content and uses personal context from the iPhone for more helpful answers. The standard HomeView has a floating display on a curved aluminum base. The screen is connected by a hinge and can tilt to suit the user's position. The model will be available in silver, “starlight“, pink and space gray, with each color matched with a cable in the same shade.
The wall version includes only the display module and is available in silver and space gray. Various Schneider Home stands are provided for it, which are sold separately.
The display has a resolution of 1088 by 1088 pixels, a density of 220 pixels per inch and a maximum brightness of 500 nits. The minimum brightness is 0.3 nits. True Tone is supported for automatic color temperature adjustment and an oleophobic coating that reduces fingerprints. HomeView uses an Apple A18 chip and specially developed software. The system can recognize up to six household members and display different settings, applications and information according to the specific person. Personal actions like replying to messages and emails are only available to the identified user, while shared photo libraries and music are available to everyone.
A Siri conversation started on HomeView can be continued on a compatible iPhone or iPad. Users can also customize the home screen with custom widgets.
For FaceTime calls, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with an f/2.4 aperture is built in. The Center Stage feature crops the frame and tracks the person as they move. Connectivity is via 802.11ax Wi-Fi with MIMO, Bluetooth 6.0, and Thread. Both variants have dual full-range speakers in the display module. The desktop model adds a downward-firing woofer and two passive radiators with opposite motion. Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos are supported, and computational processing adjusts the sound in real time according to the environment.
Four far-field microphones capture voice commands, and the system can recognize sounds from smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
Pre-orders are available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand. In Singapore, they start on October 15. Sales begin on November 13.
Apple will not offer HomeView in the European Union, as Siri AI is not yet available in iOS for the region. The company says it is working with European institutions to find a solution.