Apple HomeView: what it is, price and when it comes to Europe

What Apple HomeView is

HomeView is Apple's first smart display – the same class of device Amazon (Echo Show) and Google (Nest Hub) have sold for years. Apple's version is a square 7-inch Liquid Retina display on a domed aluminium speaker base, joined by a stainless steel hinge. The screen tilts so it is easy to read from a tall kitchen counter or a low bedside table.

There are two models. The tabletop one is a complete device with the speaker base, weighs 952 g and ships with a 1.5 m USB-C cable and a 30 W power adapter. The wall-mounted one (HomeView Wall Mounted) is the same display without the base: 14.55 × 14.55 cm, under a centimetre thick and 286 g. It is meant for an entryway or hallway and needs a separately sold mount and power adapter.

The display measures 6.98 inches diagonally at 1088 × 1088 pixels (220 ppi), and brightness adjusts automatically from 500 nits in a sunny kitchen to 0.3 nits in a dark bedroom. There is True Tone and one clever trick: from across the room the screen shows less and bigger, and more detail appears as you walk closer.

At its heart is the A18 chip – the same one as in the iPhone 16 – with Secure Exclaves, a protected area that processes camera and microphone data separately from the rest of the system. Add a 12 MP Center Stage camera, four microphones for commands from across the room, and sensors for ambient light, temperature and humidity, plus an accelerometer.

Apple's official HomeView videos

Apple released two videos on launch day: a longer film that follows HomeView through one family's everyday life, and a short product tour. Both are from Apple's official YouTube channel and load only when you tap them.

Price and availability: why HomeView is not coming to Estonia

In the US both models cost $299, in the UK £299, in Australia AU$449 and in India Rs 39,900. The wall-mounted model needs a Schneider Home mount on top: the USB-C version from $59.95, the AC-wired one $79.95 and the Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) one $129.95, the last of these only in early 2027.

What Apple says about Europe

The footnote in Apple's press release is short: HomeView is not available for sale in the European Union because Siri AI is currently unavailable in iOS in the EU, and Apple is “working constructively with the EU in an attempt to find a path forward”. No date, no promise. The reason is the same one that keeps iPhone Mirroring on the Mac and the new Siri off European iPhones: the Digital Markets Act (DMA) requires new features to be open to competitors from day one, and Apple is not willing to launch Siri AI in Europe on those terms.

In practice this means you cannot buy HomeView in Estonia from Apple or any official retailer, and the product does not appear on Apple's Estonian website. If someone brings one back from London or New York, it will technically run on Estonian mains power (USB-C, 100–240 V), but Siri AI's personal context requires a paired iPhone with Siri AI switched on – which EU iPhones do not have. Apple has not described how such a device behaves in Europe, so importing one is a gamble right now.

What HomeView would cost in Estonia

Apple has not published a euro price. The UK's £299 is roughly €345, and Apple's European prices tend to match the dollar figure or sit slightly above it because they include VAT. If HomeView ever reaches the EU, a price of €299–349 is realistic – that is our estimate, not Apple's number.

Smart home devices that work with Apple Home today – Aqara, Philips Hue, Matter plugs and sensors – are in stock with us.Smart home devices →

Siri AI: what is different about the new Siri

HomeView is the first device whose selling point is the new Siri. Apple calls it Siri AI: a completely rebuilt assistant based on Apple's own language models that holds a conversation, has broad world knowledge and understands personal context – messages, calendar, Apple Music playlists. In HomeView software 27.2, Siri AI is still in beta.

An important nuance: Siri AI works on two levels on HomeView. Without an Apple Intelligence iPhone, the device gets world knowledge, conversation and better music discovery. If there is an Apple Intelligence iPhone or iPad in the household (on the latest software with Siri AI turned on), personal context is added and Siri can take actions across apps. Conversations can be continued in the Siri app on iPhone, Mac or Apple Watch – the history syncs through iCloud.

Languages at launch are English only, in eight markets, with Canadian French promised later through a free update. Siri AI does not speak Estonian or Russian – another reason the device would not be what the adverts show on day one in Estonia. Some server-side features also have daily usage limits, and Apple has already said that expanded access will be offered for a fee in the future.

Privacy is Apple's core argument: Siri requests are processed either on the device or in Private Cloud Compute, where Apple says data is not stored. Camera and microphone data for face recognition is handled by the A18 chip's Secure Exclaves, which HomeView software, apps, the user and Apple cannot access.

Face recognition, six users and display “faces”

HomeView uses its camera to recognise up to six household members. When a familiar person stands in front of the screen, the shared household view switches to their personal Home Screen: their apps, widgets, messages, calendar and Find My. Personal content is shown only when the person is recognised and their iPhone or iPad is on the same Wi-Fi network and was recently unlocked. A guest can control lights, check the weather, set a timer and play music, but will not see anyone's messages.

When nobody is in front of it, HomeView shows a “face” – Apple's name for the idle-screen modes, like watch faces on the Apple Watch:

• PhotosA digital photo frame: a single picture or a rotating gallery, including from a shared album, with a depth effect.
• FlowReacts to movement and presence with colour and light.
• SnoopyAnimations that follow the time of day, weather, sporting events and holidays.
• Calendar and WeatherCalendar and weather large enough to read across the room.
• Home ModularFavourite accessories and scenes within reach.
• Home CameraUp to nine live camera feeds at once.

Smart home: how HomeView runs the house

HomeView is an Apple Home hub like HomePod and Apple TV, only with a screen. By touch or voice you can view cameras, adjust the thermostat, switch lights, lock doors and close blinds. All “Works with Apple Home” and Matter accessories are supported. There is a Thread radio inside, so Thread sensors and switches connect directly without a separate bridge.

Apple Intelligence gives the cameras a brain: with an iCloud+ subscription and compatible cameras, the system recognises people, familiar faces, pets, packages and vehicles and notifies the household when someone is at the front door. Apple Intelligence writes text descriptions for HomeKit Secure Video recordings, which can be searched in natural language (“show me when the package arrived”). HomeView also listens for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and sends an alert to iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch.

Apple Home Collection: Apple's own cameras, thermostats and lock

Alongside HomeView, Apple introduced the Apple Home Collection – its first own line of smart home accessories, designed with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric: cameras, thermostats and a door lock. The first products arrive in December, some in early 2027, and they too are set up with an iPhone via NFC. Apple has not yet named specific models or prices.

You do not need to wait for HomeView to use Apple Home: Aqara sensors, the Philips Hue bridge and Matter plugs work with the Home app right now.All smart home products →

Sound, FaceTime and the kitchen

The tabletop model's base is a proper speaker: two full-range drivers in the display, a down-firing woofer in the base and two force-cancelling passive radiators that keep cabinet vibration in check. Apple's computational audio adjusts loudness and bass to the room in real time, with Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos supported. The wall-mounted model has just two drivers, tuned for on-wall placement.

For music there is Apple Music with animated artwork and lyrics, Apple Podcasts, Apple TV and the compatible third-party audio and video apps you know from your iPhone (HomeView has no App Store of its own – apps come through the iPhone). Multiroom audio works over AirPlay with HomePod, HomePod mini and other AirPlay speakers. Handoff: hold your iPhone up to HomeView and the song continues on the screen.

FaceTime calls are hands-free and the 12 MP Center Stage camera keeps you in frame as you move around the kitchen. Messages can be read and answered by voice or with the on-screen keyboard, and Intercom broadcasts to one room or to every HomePod and family iPhone. Find My shows where family members are and where an AirTag or earphone case has gone.

In the kitchen HomeView has a trick of its own: a recipe found in Safari turns into a step-by-step guide with an ingredient list and timers at the press of one button (“Start Cooking”); several timers can run at once and sit at the edge of the screen as Live Activities even while you look at something else.

Technical specifications

The enclosure is 100% recycled aluminium and the packaging entirely fibre-based. Operating temperature 0–35 °C. There is no battery – the device runs on mains power only.

What else Apple announced and what you can buy in Estonia now

The same day, Apple refreshed the rest of its home line-up. HomePod mini 2 ($149) gets the S10 chip, five new colours (pink, green, blue, white, midnight) and a promise that Siri AI will arrive in a later software update; it reaches stores on 30 October in the US and more than 23 other countries. The fourth-generation Apple TV 4K ($299) gets the A19 chip, Wi-Fi 7 and a new Siri Remote with a built-in speaker, on sale from 13 November. Apple has not published country lists for either.

An Apple smart home in Estonia today

Estonia has never been among HomePod's official markets, but the first-generation HomePod mini is available in Estonian shops as a parallel import: hinnavaatlus.ee shows a price of €129 on 16 October, with more than ten offers for the white model. Apple TV 4K is sold officially and works as an Apple Home hub exactly like HomeView – just on the TV screen.

The most sensible move, though, is to build a smart home from accessories that work with Apple Home regardless of whether the hub is a HomePod, an Apple TV or, one day, a HomeView. The Matter standard is the key: a Matter plug, bulb or sensor works in Apple Home, Google Home and Alexa alike.

• AqaraThe FP2 presence sensor, curtain driver, switches and dimmers – all with HomeKit and Matter support, hub-free or with an Aqara hub.
• Philips HueHue Bridge and Bridge Pro connect your lighting to Apple Home; the Tap dial switch runs your scenes.
• Matter plugsPhilips Smart and Trust smart plugs with energy monitoring and schedules.
• SensorsDoor, motion, leak and temperature sensors from Aqara, Aeotec and Xiaomi.

A speaker for the kitchen counter today: portable and AirPlay speakers.Portable speakers →

Verdict

Apple HomeView is the device Apple users have waited nearly a decade for: the Echo Show idea with Apple's privacy, face recognition and the new Siri. For $299 you get a display, a speaker, a photo frame, FaceTime and a smart home hub in one body, and the first reviews land on 13 November.

For buyers in Estonia the answer is simple for now: you cannot buy one, and you will have to wait until Apple and the European Union settle their differences over Siri AI. In the meantime, build your smart home from Matter and HomeKit accessories that already work in Apple Home – HomeView will simply become their screen later. We will update this article as soon as Apple announces a date for Europe.