Years of rumors have finally culminated in the 7-inch square HomeView. It's the smart home dashboard you've been waiting for, that ties into the Apple ecosystem.
After a limited first attempt at AI and a reboot, Apple is finally ready to release its smart home hub. The tablet device has a unique interface that focuses on displaying data more than interacting with it.
Apple calls it HomeView. The name gets at exactly what its expected use case is — showing users relevant data and controls, all driven by Siri AI running on an A18 chip.
There isn't an App Store, but information and widgets can be donated by the user's devices. Users can also make FaceTime calls using the HomeView, get messages, or surf with Safari.
The HomeView will show static images, a clock, or other kinds of screensavers when not being interacted with.
"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. "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."
HomeView recognizes up to six people and delivers a personalized experience for each one. Each user gets their own personalized Home Screen with apps and widgets, isolating private content. It's not clear if this relies on a shared home yet.
Homescreens aren't yet fully customizable. Instead, as rumored, they are Apple Watch-like, with complications and so forth.
Faces for HomeHub come pre-installed
The wall-mounted version can be attached using three purpose-built mounts from Schneider Home. It's not clear yet if this is a standard VESA mount, or not. (Update: it's not)
Apple's wall-mounted HomeHub
Apple says that two custom full-range drivers in the display deliver room-filling Spatial Audio. A down-firing woofer and two force-cancelling passive radiators are built into the base. This makes it more like a HomePod mini, than the full-size HomePod.
The wall-mounted version also has two custom drivers and computational audio tuned specifically for on-wall placement. There is no woofer in that model, as there is no iMac G4-like base.
HomeView also works with a new lineup of smart home cameras, thermostats, and a lock designed in collaboration with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric. This, and compatibility is called the "Apple Home Collection."
In conjunction with those cameras and a iCloud+ subscription, HomeView provides end-to-end encrypted recognition of people, familiar faces, pets, vehicles and more. With video descriptions for HomeKit Secure Video footage, the device will summarize arrivals and so forth.
Customers in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, the UK, and the U.S. can pre-order Apple HomeView in silver, starlight, rose pink, and space gray for $299, today. Both the speaker base and a wall-mounted display cost the same.
But the mounts for the wall-mounted HomeView cost more. Those mounts will be available with a choice of three purpose-built mounts from Schneider Home. The Power Mount USBC Wall Connector is available starting at $59.95, with the Power Mount AC Wired starting at $79.95.
Shipments start on November 13.
