Along with the new Apple TV the company showed HomeView — a separate home screen. This is not a tablet “just in case”, it is the face of the smart home: weather, photos, calls, scenes and a personal Siri on a stand or a wall. Sales start 13 November.
What is in the shell
Seven inches of Liquid Retina with True Tone, brightness from 500 nits by day to 0.3 nits by the bed. Step closer — more data on the screen. A 12 MP Center Stage camera keeps people in frame on a call. Four microphones take voice across the room; speakers in the base and the panel give Spatial Audio. The stand is an aluminium dome with a steel hinge, colours Silver, Starlight, Rose Pink and Space Gray. On the wall — grey and silver, power by wire or from an outlet.
The system promises to recognise up to six people and show each their own. Faces: photos, calendar, weather, Snoopy, an interactive Flow that reacts to motion. Siri AI is built in, but at launch it is English and request limits.
Why another screen
Apple is gathering the living room into one loop: HomeView, Apple TV 4K, HomePod mini 2 and the Home Collection line. HomeView is the “heart of the home” with a face, TV is cinema and hub, speakers are sound. Rivals have long stood in kitchens as Echo Show and Google Nest Hub. Apple’s move is privacy and the iPhone tie, not cheapness.
Caveats
No price in the announcement and no Russian Siri: this device is for people who already bought a house in the Apple ecosystem. Six faces and a camera in the hall are convenient and also a new recording point. Wait for reviews of the microphones and false wakes, do not preorder only for a Snoopy face.
