Apple's $299 HomeView smart display is finally real
I kicked smart displays out of the house years ago, but Apple's $299 HomeView has me willing to try again.
After years of rumors, Apple’s first smart display is finally here. Well, almost. Apple announced the HomeView and started taking preorders this morning. $299, ships Nov. 13. Two different models. One has a base with extra speakers, the other mounts on a wall. Both look like a giant Apple Watch.
The HomeView announcement from the Apple Newsroom:
Apple today introduced Apple HomeView, designed to be central to the home and personal to everyone in it. With a stunning 7-inch Liquid Retina display, HomeView brings entertainment, connection, and smart home management together in one place, from playing music and making FaceTime calls to home monitoring and hands-free automations with voice control — all designed with privacy and security at the core. HomeView recognizes users by their faces, adapting so they can access their personal content in Messages, FaceTime, Calendar, Reminders, and Find My. HomeView features Siri AI, an entirely new version of Siri that’s profoundly more capable and conversational, with broad world knowledge that powers richer music discovery and onscreen awareness. When paired with an Apple Intelligence-enabled device, it can also draw on a user’s personal context, such as their Calendar, Messages, and relevant information across their apps, to provide more helpful, personalized responses.
Emphasis mine. I’m curious to see how this works in everyday life. I plan on putting it on the kitchen counter where we all walk through multiple times per day. I haven’t had time to read everything on Apple’s site about the HomeView yet, but I assume it’s using a combination of facial recognition and nearby device signals to know who is in front of it, who is nearby and who is approaching.
I ordered the model with a base because I have no idea where I’d mount this on my wall that wouldn’t be completely awkward to have a FaceTime call on. I haven’t had a smart display in my home for years — I removed all Echo Shows after the Amazon app started sending push alerts based off of what questions my kids were asking it.
You can preorder HomeView today directly from Apple.