Apple unveils 'HomeView' Smart Home Hub with a 7-inch display, Siri AI and competitive price: All details

Apple has officially unveiled HomeView, a new smart home hub featuring a 7-inch display, Siri AI, and integrated entertainment and home management features. Similar to Amazon's Echo Show, the HomeView will work as a central dashboard for connected homes, allowing users to make FaceTime calls, play music, monitor their homes, and control compatible smart devices using touch or voice commands. 

The HomeView offers two unique designs: one is the wall-mounted HomeView model, and the other is a tabletop model with a speaker base. Apple says that the smart home hub ships with the new version of Siri AI, powered by Apple Intelligence, that offers more conversational interactions, on-screen awareness, and personalised responses. The device can also recognise individual household members and provide personalised access to apps, messages, calendars and reminders.

Apple HomeView: Specifications and features

As per Apple's press note, the HomeView comes with a 7-inch Liquid Retina display with True Tone technology and automatic brightness adjustment, which can range up to 500 nits. The tabletop model features an aluminium design, a domed speaker base and a stainless-steel hinge, allowing the display to tilt.

It is available in silver, starlight, rose pink and space grey. Whereas the wall-mounted version retains the 7-inch display and is available in space grey and silver, with mounting options from Schneider Home. Furthermore, the HomeView is powered by the  A18 chip and includes a Secure Exclaves, which isolates camera and microphone data processing from the rest of the system.

Apple says the HomeView offers greater personalization with Siri AI. It supports conversational queries, music discovery, and on-screen awareness. When paired with a compatible Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone or iPad, the voice assistant can offer a tailored experience with context from apps such as Messages and Calendar. The device can recognise up to six people, giving each user a personalised home screen with their own apps and widgets. It also lets users control compatible smart home accessories, including lights, thermostats, locks and blinds, through voice commands or the touchscreen. Its Home Camera interface can display up to nine camera feeds simultaneously. It can also provide alerts related to people, pets, packages, and vehicles, but the feature is limited to a supported iCloud+ subscription.

In terms of audio experience, the HomeView includes a custom audio system with two full-range drivers in the display. Apple says computational audio adjusts sound output in real time, while the wall-mounted model uses audio tuning designed for its placement. It supports Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, Apple TV and compatible third-party audio and video apps. The device also supports FaceTime with Center Stage, Messages, Intercom, and Handoff, which allows users to continue listening to audio from an iPhone by bringing it near the display.

Apple HomeView price and availability

The Apple HomeView is available to pre-order in India, the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK. The device is priced at Rs 39,900, and it will be available for sale on November 13 in India.