Finally, Apple’s highly anticipated HomeView is finally revealed

After years of rumors, Apple finally announced its screen-based smart speaker – dubbed HomeView – on October 13, 2026. It looks quite similar to the latest Amazon Echo Show, but Apple’s device is a 7-inch square touchscreen atop a speaker base. But HomeView is designed to manage a home built around Apple’s HomeKit via Sxiri AI. It also looks sleekly Apple-like, unlike the Echo Show.

The HomeView runs on an A18 processor – borrowed from the iPhone 16 – and can control lights, locks, cameras, thermostats, timers and calls, with voice as the primary means of input and touch retained as a backup. Two versions are available. You can opt for the countertop model, which sits on a rounded metal speaker base and is available in space gray, silver, starlight, and rosy pink. Or, there’s the wall-mounted model, which drops the base entirely, although the stand is sold separately.

The HomeView will ship on November 13 alongside the new Apple TV 4K, announced at the same time. The new HomePod mini 2 arrives a little earlier, on October 30. Apple opted to skip a filmed keynote and released a series of launch videos on YouTube alongside a press experience in New York.

Remember the iMac G4 from the early 2000s? The HomeView counter looks a lot like it: it has the same shape, just smaller. The device is a thin 7-inch square display supported by a single stainless steel hinge that rises from the rounded base that houses the speaker. It looks a bit like an enlarged Apple Watch rather than an iPad. The bezels are narrow, the corners are rounded, and a camera sits at the top of the panel.

Apple

There’s no battery inside, since the HomeView is designed to be plugged in and left alone, either on a counter or mounted to a wall, which is where the second model comes in. The wall-mounted version removes the base and extra speakers and is sold in space gray and silver, while the countertop version adds starlight and rosy pink. The brightness reaches 500 nits and goes down to 0.3 nits, which is the darkest screen Apple has ever delivered. You will enjoy it when you look at the screen in the dark.

A built-in camera handles FaceTime calls and can also recognize who is approaching to fit the content on the screen. When accessing HomeView, the view switches to your own calendar, messages, photos and widgets. It can also locate you by voice or using the iPhone in your pocket. Walk away and the next person gets a lock screen. You will also need to periodically unlock your iPhone or iPad to continue using it

A downward-firing subwoofer and two passive radiators sit in the base, alongside two full-range speakers behind the display. BGR’s reviewer praised the HomePod 2023’s audio quality, but noted that the HomePod mini 2022 didn’t sound as good as its competitors.

The HomeView supports a limited selection of apps (such as calendar, weather, and calling apps) but does not have an App Store. It works more like CarPlay, where you can only access certain apps. The touchscreen is only there for those times when talking is awkward. In fact, Apple analyst Mark Gurman speculates that this is why Apple chose the name HomeView instead of HomePad. Apple imagines you’ll use HomeView most to run scenes you’ve set up, set timers, check the smart doorbell or other security cameras, send an intercom message to another room, or view a recipe in a reformatted Safari page while your hands are covered in flour.

Siri AI arrived in iOS 27 and replaced the rigid model of commands and phrases that made the original HomePod so irritating to experience for many. Just like on your iPhone, you can now ask Siri something in everyday language, change your mind mid-sentence and return to what you said earlier, and the assistant should understand everything. It also draws on your personal context through your messages, emails, contacts, etc., so it should understand you better. Most of this happens on-device to keep things fast, thanks to the A18 chip.

Amazon has been selling the Echo Show since 2017 and Google has been selling smart displays since 2018. Apple is entering a category that its competitors are familiar with. Many people already use a Nest Hub as a kitchen display, but Apple believes it offers the best assistant. The HomeView works with Matter and Thread and will pair with most devices, even those without a HomeKit logo on the box. Anyone moving from another ecosystem can keep most of their existing hardware.

Alongside HomeView, Apple also released an updated HomePod mini. The HomePod mini 2 is the same shape and size as the 2020 original. It now comes in green, pink, blue, white, and black. The changes almost all concern audio. Soundglow turns the light panel into a color match for the album currently playing, or into a pattern of rain or ocean waves when a soundscape is playing. A pair can act as Mac speakers over AirPlay, or four can work as surround speakers with the new Apple TV 4K.

The old HomePod mini couldn’t run Siri AI, but the new one will. But not yet. It won’t ship with the HomePod mini 2, so users are stuck with the old Siri that many users found unreliable. Apple’s N1 wireless chip brings Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 to the smart speaker, while a new ultra-wideband chip makes transmitting audio from an iPhone less tedious.

Interestingly, Apple also highlighted several smart home devices that it co-created with LG and Schneider Electric. The Apple Home Collection offers indoor and outdoor cameras, a video doorbell, a door lock, and smart thermostats. Apple has already reached similar agreements with Belkin and Logitech.

All of these devices support Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread, and Matter, and the deadbolt adds ultra-wideband so it can detect your iPhone’s proximity. They always pair with your iPhone using a setup card similar to the one you see when you set up AirPods. The cameras, doorbell and lock position Apple for the first time against Ring and Nest — Amazon and Google’s ecosystems, respectively — at the high-end end of a market, as those luxury smart home devices worth the extra money.

The HomeView is available for pre-order starting today (October 13) for $299, but won’t start shipping until November 13. The HomePods mini 2 is also available for pre-order starting today, but will arrive a little earlier, on October 30. The new Apple Home Collection accessories will arrive later this year at the earliest, but no exact date has been given yet. Their price will vary between $199 and $349.

Announcing hardware weeks or months before shipping is frustrating, but it’s unfortunately become normal for Apple this year. The iPhone Duo was revealed on September 9 and didn’t go on sale until October 23. A month’s gap between HomeView’s announcement and its delivery therefore fits the pattern for the rest of the fall. If you’re trying to fill in the gaps in your smart home before the cold weather sets in rather than waiting until November, our list of smart devices worth installing before winter covers what’s available now.

Prices on Apple’s home lineup have already increased in 2026. The company raised prices on the Apple TV 4K and HomePod in June as memory chip costs climbed. Amazon and Google sell smart displays for well under $200, so at $299, the HomeView is firmly positioned at the premium end of the market.