Apple has launched HomeView, a smart home hub with a 7-inch touchscreen that runs Siri with Apple Intelligence, at its “Welcome home” launch on October 13. It costs $299 and goes on sale on Friday, November 13, in desktop and wall-mounted versions.
What the $299 buys
The screen has a resolution of 1,088 x 1,088 and reaches 500 nits of brightness. It sits on a tilting hinge above a rounded aluminium base on the desktop model, and the wall-mounted version is the display module alone, with mounts sold separately.
Inside is Apple’s A18 chip. Both versions have two full-range speakers and support Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, and the desktop model adds a woofer and two passive radiators in the base. Four far-field microphones handle voice commands, and the hub can recognise the sound of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. A 12MP ultrawide camera with Center Stage covers video calls. The hub supports Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 6.0 and Thread.
HomeView can recognise up to six people in a household. Only recognised users can reply to iMessages and emails, while shared content such as iCloud photo libraries and music is open to anyone at home. Conversations with Siri can move between HomeView and an iPhone or iPad. The desktop model comes in Silver, Starlight, Rose Pink and Space Gray, and the wall version in Silver and Space Gray.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported before the launch that HomeView would run Apple’s own apps without an App Store, and that LG-built accessories such as a doorbell, lock and thermostat would not arrive until later this year at the earliest. He also reported that the refreshed HomePod mini and Apple TV 4K would ship on October 30, two weeks before the hub.
Cheaper than rumoured, but Pakistan is not mentioned
Reports ahead of the launch pointed to a target price of about $350, so $299 is lower than expected. At the interbank rate of about Rs. 277 to the dollar in early October, $299 is roughly Rs. 83,000 before taxes, duties and freight.
Apple will not sell HomeView in the European Union because of regulations affecting Siri’s AI features. French outlet iPhoneSoft noted that Siri with AI is still unavailable on iPhones in the EU for the same reason. The announcement does not name Pakistan among the countries where the hub will be sold, so buyers here would depend on imports and should check whether the AI features work in their region before paying.
