Apple launches HomeView, its first smart-home display, at $299 — recognizes up to 6 household faces with a new Siri AI

Apple unveiled Apple HomeView at its "Welcome home" event on October 13, 2026 — its first-ever smart-home display, long rumored under the name "HomePad," priced at $299, below the up-to-$350 estimate Mark Gurman had previously floated. The device features a 7-inch Liquid Retina display in an aluminum housing, connected to a dome-shaped speaker base by a smooth-tilting stainless steel hinge. It comes in 4 colors — silver, starlight, rose pink, and space gray — with a matching charging cable; the wall-mounted version is available only in space gray and silver.

The headline feature is recognizing up to 6 household members by face, each getting their own home screen with a choice of Faces themes, from Photos using real family pictures to minimalist clock faces. Personal data in Messages, FaceTime, Calendar, Reminders, and Find My stays hidden from other people, while shared photo albums and playlists can be viewed together. The display adjusts brightness from 500 nits down to 0.3 nits, suited for a nightstand, with True Tone and awareness of how far the user is standing — showing simple info from a distance and more detail up close.

The new Siri AI, powered by a new generation of Apple Intelligence, holds more natural conversations and answers a wider range of questions. It can be used even without a paired Apple Intelligence-capable iPhone, but when paired with an unlocked iPhone or iPad nearby, it draws on personal context like calendar and messages to answer, and conversations can continue across devices via iCloud. On security, the A18 chip includes Secure Exclaves — an isolated processing area for camera and microphone data that no other software, app, user, or even Apple itself can access. Personal content only appears once a face is recognized, and a paired iPhone or iPad must be nearby and recently unlocked.