Apple to unveil HomeView smart display at Welcome Home event on 13 October

The Welcome Home event

Apple will hold its 'Welcome Home' event on Tuesday, 13 October, a private experience in New York that is expected to begin around 9 a.m. Eastern Time, according to MacRumors. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that the new smart home hub will be called HomeView and that it will be announced at that event. The name would sit alongside the existing HomePod brand, which Apple uses for its smart speakers. Apple is expected to unveil three products in total: HomeView, a HomePod mini 2 and an updated Apple TV 4K. Invited reporters and content creators will likely get hands-on time with the devices at the New York experience.

HomeView hardware and software

HomeView is expected to have a 6-inch square display and an A18 chip for Apple Intelligence, with Siri AI as the central feature. Sources describe two versions. The tabletop model has a speaker base made of metal and is offered in four finishes: Gray, Silver, Starlight and Rose. The wall-mounted model has a flat, square wall plate and is limited to Gray and Silver. Rumors describe a presence sensor and a camera that would use a version of Face ID to recognize who is nearby, with personal content such as email shown only after authentication. The hub is not expected to have an App Store, although it will run Apple apps such as Safari, News, Music, Messages, FaceTime and Photos. The Verge puts the rumored price at $350.

Availability and the rest of the lineup

Availability is expected to differ by product. MacRumors reports that the new HomePod mini and Apple TV 4K will reportedly launch on Friday, 30 October, while HomeView is not expected until mid-November. Adnkronos, citing Gurman, also puts HomeView availability around the middle of November. The new Apple TV 4K would be the first update to the device since 2022, and it is rumored to carry an A19 chip, Siri AI support and a Siri Remote with a built-in speaker that helps users find it. The new HomePod mini is rumored to use the S10 chip from the Apple Watch Series 10, up from the S5 chip in the 2020 model, and leaked colors include pink and green.

Accessories built with LG and Schneider Electric

Apple is expected to introduce an 'Apple Home Collection' of accessories that partners such as LG and Schneider Electric developed with it. According to Gurman, LG will sell the products under its own name, while Apple was closely involved in their development and helped shape the design. Documents LG filed with the US regulator FCC list a video doorbell, a smart deadbolt lock, a thermostat, a temperature sensor and indoor and outdoor security cameras. MacRumors suggests the accessories could support iPhone proximity setup, where a prompt appears on the iPhone screen when the phone is near a device.

Why the launch matters for Apple

The Independent describes the launch as Apple's attempt to break into the smart home more seriously after the HomeKit framework in 2014, the Home app in 2016 and the HomePod, which was released in 2017, discontinued in 2021 and brought back in 2023. Earlier attempts struggled to gain adoption, with Siri blamed along with high prices relative to products from Google and Amazon. Apple says it has now fixed Siri with a new version announced over the summer. Reports suggest the devices were finished for some time and that Apple waited until the Siri redesign was ready. The Verge notes that Apple is years behind Google and Amazon in smart home hardware, but that success in the home depends more on software.