Apple HomeView: A new way to stay connected, and manage the home

The $299 price covers both versions: a tabletop model with a domed aluminum base and a wall-mount model without one. Specs include a 7-inch square Liquid Retina display, an A18 chip and a 12MP Center Stage camera. The device recognizes up to six household members and changes its interface for whoever is in front of it. General questions work on the device alone, but more personalized functions depend on a compatible Apple Intelligence iPhone or iPad. Availability is narrow at launch. HomeView requires iOS 27.2 or iPadOS 27.2 or later, and Siri AI is English only to start. It is not launching in the European Union initially because of the Siri AI requirements. Apple is selling it alongside a $299 Apple TV 4K, a $149 HomePod Mini 2 and new smart home devices built with LG. The category was started by Amazon's Echo Show and Google's Nest Hub, which added screens to voice assistants around 2017. For AI founders, the notable point is distribution. Apple is shipping a conversational assistant into a shared household device, with personal context pulled from a paired phone and per-person recognition. Startups building home or voice agents now compete with a default assistant that has first-party access to messages, calendars and music. The EU exclusion and English-only limit also leave gaps in markets and languages that third-party products could fill.