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Apple HomeView brings music, video calls and smart home controls together.
Photo: Apple

Apple intends its new HomeView hub to be permanently at the center of a digital home. It’s intended to offer “entertainment, connection, and smart home management,” said the official announcement. It features a 7-inch screen and a built-in speaker system.

“Apple HomeView is designed to be shared by everyone in the home yet feel completely personal to each user,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, in a statement. “It recognizes your face to shift from a household screen to your own experience, fills the room with incredible sound, keeps you connected to the people who matter most with FaceTime, and makes it easy to control your smart home. And it’s powered by Apple Intelligence with Siri AI at its core, drawing on personal context from your iPhone to help you find what you need and get more done, all while keeping everyone’s information private and secure.”

The hub was announced Tuesday alongside a range of other smart home accessories.

Apple HomeView: Personalized display for the whole family

HomeView features a 7-inch Liquid Retina display attached to a domed speaker base with a stainless steel hinge. It comes in four colors: silver, starlight, rose pink and space gray — each with a matching cable. The design allows the screen to tilt for comfortable viewing on a kitchen counter, bedside table or desk.

A separate wall-mounted model — available in space gray and silver — offers the same 7-inch touchscreen.

The display adjusts its brightness to suit its surroundings, ranging from 500 nits in bright conditions to just 0.3 nits in a dark bedroom. Its interface can also change depending on how close someone is, showing simpler information from across the room and more detail when they approach.

Face recognition lets HomeView support up to six people, each with a personalized Home Screen, apps and widgets. Personal information remains separate, while shared photo albums and music can be enjoyed by the entire household.

HomeView finally puts a screen at the center of Apple’s smart home.
Photo: Apple Apple HomeView brings Siri into the home

A focus of Apple’s HomeView is on making Apple’s AI-powered Siri easily and immediately available. You could, for example, ask for advice on browning onions, and the smart home hub will answer with no need to pull your iPhone out of a pocket or even pause in stirring.

When paired with a compatible Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone or iPad, you can ask the hub about the time of your next calendar event, or add an event just by describing it to Siri. Or perhaps call your sister with FaceTime.

“With broad world knowledge, anyone in the home can ask Siri about virtually any topic and get an answer,” says Apple.

The AI-enabled hub helps out around the kitchen. It can turn online recipes into step-by-step instructions, manage timers through voice commands and help track ingredients.

But when Apple’s HomeView was just a rumor, a typical question on social media was  “Who is this for?” The answer is certainly “Not for everyone.” Anyone who hardly ever puts their iPhone down will likely not see a need.

Still, we’re still early in the AI boom, and it’s not yet clear what role artificial intelligence will play in our daily lives. Apple wants to be sure that if you want an AI-enabled device on your kitchen countertop, you can get one that cooperates with your iPhone, Mac and iPad.

Like Apple Watch, users can customize HomeView with a collection of fun and useful faces.
Image: Apple Music, FaceTime and more on a small screen

HomeView supports Apple Music, including animated album art and lyrics, along with Apple Podcasts, Apple News, Apple TV and compatible third-party audio and video apps.

Users can transfer music from an iPhone by bringing the phone close to the display, while multiple HomeView devices, HomePods and compatible AirPlay speakers can play audio throughout the house.

The hub’s audio system includes two full-range drivers in the display, a down-firing woofer, and two force-cancelling passive radiators in the base. Apple says computational audio automatically optimizes loudness and bass response.

FaceTime calls use Center Stage to keep participants framed as they move around the room. Messages can be read and answered by voice or through the onscreen keyboard.

Apple wants a place on your kitchen counter with HomeView.
Photo: Apple Also a smart home dashboard

HomeView is designed for controlling connected smart home accessories. Users can adjust lights and thermostats, lock doors, close blinds and check security cameras using touch or Siri AI.

Also on Tuesday, Apple introduced a new Home Collection of smart home accessories. Developed in collaboration with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric, the lineup includes cameras, thermostats and a smart lock. The accessories will work alongside compatible devices supporting Apple Home and Matter.

• See also: Apple Home Collection is a starter kit for your smart home

Ands speaking of  smart home devices, new HomePod mini and Apple TV 4K models also debuted on Tuesday.

• See also: HomePod mini gets its biggest upgrade in 6 years 
• See also: Apple TV 4K gets Siri AI and a remote you can actually find

Apple HomeView price and availability HomeView also comes in a separate wall-mounted variant.
Photo: Apple

Apple HomeView costs $299 in the U.S. The separate wall-mounted version also starts at $299. Preorders begin Tuesday, October 13, through Apple’s online store and Apple Store app, with availability starting Friday, November 13, in the U.S. and several other countries.

Apple HomeView won’t initially be available in the European Union because Siri AI is not yet available there in iOS. Apple says it is working toward a solution.

The wall-mounted model uses purpose-built mounts from Schneider Home, sold separately. Prices start at $59.95 for a USB-C wall connector and $79.95 for an AC-wired mount. A Power over Ethernet mount is expected in early 2027 for $129.95.