Apple has launched its first smart home display, HomeView, featuring a 7-inch square touchscreen with facial recognition and Siri AI, priced at $299.

Author: Li Dan

Source: Wall Street Journal

Apple is intensifying its investment in smart home technology, launching for the first time a home device that integrates music playback, video calling, home monitoring, and smart home control—all powered by AI to unlock new growth opportunities.

On Tuesday, October 13, Eastern Time, Apple launched its first smart home display, HomeView, updated the Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini, and partnered with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric to introduce the Apple Home Collection accessory line, including cameras, thermostats, smart doorbells, and locks, demonstrating its ambition to further compete in the smart home market through hardware, Siri AI, and ecosystem integration.

At the core of this launch is the HomeView, priced at $299. The device features a 7-inch square touchscreen that supports both tabletop placement and wall mounting. It uses facial recognition to deliver personalized interfaces for up to six household members, integrating Siri AI, calendar, music playback, and smart home controls into a single device, with a strong emphasis on privacy and data security. Pre-orders for the product opened Tuesday, and shipments are scheduled to begin on November 13.

This time, Apple's focus isn't just on launching new hardware, but on integrating Siri AI into home scenarios and expanding smart home accessories through partners. This move positions Apple to compete more directly with Amazon and Google. However, HomeView's personalized features rely on users' existing Apple devices, and the success of this strategy will depend on Siri AI's actual performance, third-party device compatibility, and market acceptance following the price increases.

The capital market reacted relatively calmly. On the day of the product launch, Apple's stock rose more than 2% in early trading on Tuesday, but later gave back most of those gains, closing with an increase of less than 0.1%. Analysts believe that this new round of home hardware updates could expand Apple’s growth potential, but the more immediate growth opportunity to watch is the upcoming pre-sale of the foldable smartphone, iPhone Duo.

Facial recognition integrated with Siri AI, HomeView targets the home control center

HomeView features a 7-inch square screen, powered by the A18 chip and Apple’s specially designed HomeView software. The device has no physical buttons and uses an app grid interface familiar to Apple users, displaying photos, a clock, calendar, and widgets. It also serves as a home control hub, managing devices such as lights and locks, and viewing live feeds from connected cameras.

Apple offers two installation options: one with an aluminum base and adjustable hinge, designed for placement on kitchen countertops or bedside tables; another that supports wall mounting. Both models are priced at $299. The desktop version is powered via USB-C, while the wall-mounted version supports multiple power options, including Power over Ethernet (PoE).

Facial recognition is a key feature of HomeView. The device can recognize up to six household members via its camera and automatically switch to their respective apps, calendars, and personalized content. Users can also transfer music playback, FaceTime video calls, and Safari browsing sessions from their iPhone to HomeView. For kitchen use, Apple has designed a step-by-step recipe interface where users can tap on cooking durations to create timers.

Apple aims to make Siri AI the center of home interaction. Users can use voice commands to query information, manage schedules, send messages, or control smart home devices. However, HomeView is not a fully independent tablet: it lacks a traditional App Store, and third-party audio and video services will be integrated through compatible means, with the overall experience still constrained by Apple’s ecosystem.

Privacy protection is also an integral part of product design. HomeView uses nearby iPhones to obtain personal contextual information rather than storing this data directly on the display. Apple states that facial recognition personalization requires users to have a registered device supporting Apple Intelligence and Siri AI, connected to the same Wi-Fi network as HomeView. When the device cannot identify a user, it switches to a family sharing mode with limited permissions.

However, the availability of HomeView is also limited by software availability.

Apple stated that the product is not currently available in the EU because Siri AI has not yet been rolled out in the EU version of iOS, and the company is engaged in constructive discussions with EU authorities. This means that Apple’s ability to successfully deploy Siri AI globally will directly impact the market reach of its smart home hardware.

In addition to HomeView, Apple has launched the Apple Home Collection line of smart home accessories, developed in collaboration with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric, covering indoor and outdoor cameras, floodlight cameras, video doorbells, thermostats, and smart locks.

According to publicly disclosed information, the product line will begin shipping in December at prices ranging from approximately $199 to $399. Apple aims for users to set up the devices directly through their iPhone, without needing to download separate apps or create additional accounts, and to integrate these devices into Apple’s existing smart home ecosystem.

This strategy helps Apple lower the barrier for users to set up a smart home system. Compared to selling displays or speakers individually, a more complete accessory ecosystem increases the variety of devices within the Apple ecosystem and provides more practical use cases for HomeView.

But Apple still needs to prove that its products can reliably collaborate within complex home device ecosystems. Competition in smart homes depends not only on interface design and brand appeal, but also on device compatibility, response speed, and long-term reliability. Whether HomeView can become the central hub for home control largely depends on whether these everyday experiences meet expectations.

Apple also updated the Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini, both of which feature enhanced hardware specifications and functional upgrades centered around Siri AI and home entertainment.

The new Apple TV 4K features the A19 chip, 128GB of storage, built-in far-field microphones, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 6, supporting Siri AI voice interactions. Users can search for and play content using voice commands without needing to locate the remote at all times. The remote also includes an audio cue feature to help users find it in places like between couch cushions. The new model is priced at $299 and will ship on November 13.

The second-generation HomePod mini is priced at $149, features the S10 chip, and introduces a new interactive lighting effect called Sound Glow, which displays different colors based on music album covers or ambient sound scenarios. The new model is available in five colors and will ship on October 30. Siri AI functionality will be enabled through a future software update.

Notably, the prices of both products have increased compared to their predecessors. The new Apple TV 4K has risen from $199 to $299, and the HomePod mini has increased from $129 to $149. Bloomberg notes that cost pressures from tight supplies of memory chips and other components are among the factors driving price increases in consumer electronics.

For Apple, upgrading hardware specifications can enhance product competitiveness, but higher prices may also extend users' upgrade cycles. In particular, for the Apple TV 4K, whether it can convince existing users to pay a higher price for the new generation—beyond its enhanced features—remains to be seen in the market.

Apple's stock rose slightly on Tuesday, reflecting investors' relatively muted response to the new product launch. Analysts generally view Apple's opportunity to expand its home product lineup favorably, but did not regard this release as the most significant near-term growth catalyst.

Baird maintains an "Outperform" rating on Apple with a price target of $330. The firm believes that home devices will enhance Apple’s growth opportunities in the smart home market, but the upcoming pre-order launch of the foldable iPhone Duo this Friday represents an even greater growth opportunity. Despite limited initial supply expected at launch, Baird remains optimistic about demand during the holiday shopping season and into next year.

Another institution, Yorkville Ives, has also assigned Apple an "Outperform" rating with a price target of $400. The firm views this release as a continuation of Apple’s new cycle of hardware innovation: following the iPhone 18 series and iPhone Duo, smart home products are expected to become a key component of the company’s next phase of product innovation.

The institution also believes that Apple’s AI strategy and its commercialization potential could add $75 per share to the company’s valuation. This assessment highlights market expectations for Apple’s ability to monetize AI, but whether this potential is realized ultimately depends on Siri’s AI performance, user adoption rates, and whether AI can drive growth in hardware sales or other revenue streams.

From a longer-term perspective, the significance of HomeView and the Apple Home Collection lies in Apple’s attempt to extend competition from smartphones, computers, and wearables into the home space. Through the integration of displays, speakers, TV boxes, and smart home accessories, Apple has the opportunity to enhance user engagement and expand hardware sales within its ecosystem.

However, it will take time to determine whether the smart home business can become a new growth engine. In the short term, the presale performance and supply capacity of the foldable iPhone Duo are expected to remain the more direct indicators investors use to assess Apple’s next phase of growth momentum.