Apple has announced the HomeView, a new smart home hub powered by the Apple A18 chip and the company’s latest Siri experience with Apple Intelligence. Available in desktop and wall-mounted designs, the HomeView is designed to bring smart home controls, personalised information, music and video calling into one device. It is scheduled to go on sale on 13 November.
The standard HomeView features a floating display design with a rounded aluminium base and a tilt-adjustable hinge, allowing users to adjust the screen angle. It will be available in four colours: Silver, Starlight, Rose Pink and Space Gray, with a matching cable included for each colour option.
Meanwhile, the wall-mounted version features only the display module and supports a range of mounting options from Schneider Home. Unlike the desktop model, it will only be available in Silver and Space Gray, with wall mounts sold separately.
Both variants feature a 7-inch LCD touchscreen with a resolution of 1,088 x 1,088 pixels, a pixel density of 220ppi and peak brightness of 500 nits. The display can also dim to as low as 0.3 nits, while True Tone automatically adjusts the colour temperature according to ambient lighting conditions. Apple has also applied a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating to the touchscreen.
For audio, both models feature two full-range drivers housed within the display unit. The desktop version adds a down-firing woofer and dual force-cancelling passive radiators inside the base. It also supports Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, with computational audio technology adjusting the sound tuning in real time based on the surrounding environment.
The HomeView is equipped with four far-field microphones for voice input and can recognise the sounds of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. For video calls, it features a built-in 12MP ultra-wide camera with an f/2.4 aperture and support for Center Stage, which automatically crops and follows the subject as they move around.
Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) with MIMO, Bluetooth 6.0 and Thread networking, allowing the HomeView to connect to compatible devices and smart home accessories.
Powered by the Apple A18 chip, the HomeView runs custom software built around the new Siri and Apple Intelligence. Users can begin a conversation with Siri on the HomeView and continue it on another compatible Apple device, such as an iPhone or iPad, or move an existing conversation from those devices to the smart home hub.
The HomeView can recognise up to six people in a household, providing personalised information and options based on their individual Apple devices. Features such as replying to iMessages and emails are restricted to recognised users, while shared content, including iCloud photo libraries and music, can be accessed by other household members. Each recognised user can also personalise the HomeView’s home screen with their own widgets.
The Apple HomeView is priced at US$299 for both the desktop and wall-mounted versions. Wall mounts for the latter are sold separately. Pre-orders are available in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, the UK and the US, while pre-orders in Singapore will begin on 15 October.
The device is scheduled to be available for purchase on Friday, 13 November. However, Apple has not announced its availability in Malaysia at the time of writing. The HomeView will also not launch in the European Union due to regulatory requirements relating to Siri’s AI capabilities.
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