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Apple HomeView is a $299-class smart-home display designed to make shared control feel like an appliance rather than a home-server project. It combines a 7-inch screen, Siri AI, FaceTime, entertainment, household profiles and Apple Home/Matter controls. That makes it a simpler choice for Apple-centered homes, but it does not replace Home Assistant’s breadth, local-first flexibility or deep automation options.
What Apple announced
Apple announced HomeView on 13 October 2026. The device is a 7-inch Liquid Retina smart-home display with Apple silicon based on the A18, a domed speaker base and a tilt hinge. True Tone and adaptive brightness range from 500 nits down to 0.3 nits, allowing the screen to work as both a control panel and an always-available household display.
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Apple positions HomeView as a shared device that still feels personal. It can recognize up to six household users and personalize each person’s Home Screen. Apple says sensitive personal content is shown only when the enrolled face is recognized and a paired, recently unlocked iPhone or iPad is nearby.
“Apple HomeView is designed to be shared by everyone in the home yet feel completely personal to each user,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
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- 12-Month Warranty: Backed by a 12-month manufacturer warranty for peace of mind. Designed to meet strict quality control standards for reliable everyday performance.
Price, colors and availability
Apple’s UK release lists both the tabletop and wall-mounted HomeView models at £299. The tabletop version comes in silver, starlight, rose pink and space grey. The wall-mounted model is offered in space grey and silver.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Announcement and pre-orders | 13 October 2026 |
| Initial availability | 13 November 2026 in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, the UK and the US |
| Singapore pre-orders | 15 October 2026 |
| South Africa | Available through authorized resellers |
| European Union | Not sold there because Siri AI is currently unavailable in iOS in the EU, according to Apple |
| UK launch price | £299 for either tabletop or wall-mounted HomeView, as listed by Apple |
Mounting hardware is separate. Schneider Home’s Power Mount USB-C Wall Connector starts at £54.95, the Power Mount AC Wired starts at £69.95, and a Power Mount PoE Wired model is planned for early 2027 at £119.95. Those figures are the UK prices in Apple’s release and may not represent other regions or later retail pricing.
Rank #2
- 5-in-1 USB-C Hub: Experience comprehensive connectivity featuring a Power Delivery input, two USB-A 2.0 ports, a USB-A 3.0 port, and an HDMI port. (Note: The USB-C power delivery input port is only for connecting an external wall charger to power your laptop and cannot power peripheral devices.)
- 90W Pass-Through Charging: Achieve optimal charging with 90W pass-through power to your laptop, supported by a total input of 100W, with the hub reserving 10W for operational efficiency. (Note: Wall charger not included.)
- Quick Data Transfers: Accelerate your productivity with rapid data transfers using a high-speed 5Gbps USB 3.0 port and two 480Mbps USB 2.0 ports.
- 4K HDMI Display: Enhance your visual experience with a hub capable of delivering 4K resolution at 30Hz in both mirror and extend modes. Please note that this hub is compatible with MacBook (macOS 12 and newer), Windows 10 and 11, ChromeOS, and laptops equipped with DP Alt Mode and Power Delivery. Note: This device is not compatible with Linux.
- What You Get: Anker USB-C Hub (5-in-1, 4K HDMI), welcome guide, 18-month warranty, and our friendly customer service.
What HomeView can control
The central dashboard can display live camera feeds and control compatible thermostats, lights, locks and blinds. Apple says the Home Camera view can show up to nine feeds simultaneously. Compatible cameras can use encrypted recognition for people, familiar faces, pets, packages and vehicles when the required supported iCloud+ subscription is active.
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Control works by touch or voice. Siri AI can invoke scenes and hands-free automations, while the Apple Home and Matter ecosystems provide the accessory foundation. Support still depends on the specific accessory and its Apple Home or Matter capabilities; a device that works with another smart-home platform is not automatically guaranteed to expose every function in HomeView.
Rank #3
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- Flawless 4K@60Hz Video with HDMI: Delivers exceptional clarity and smoothness with its 4K@60Hz HDMI port, making it ideal for high-definition presentations and entertainment. (Note: Only the HDMI port supports video projection; the USB-C port is for data transfer only.)
- Double Up on Efficiency: The two USB-A 3.0 ports and a USB-C port support a fast 5Gbps data rate, significantly boosting your transfer speeds and improving productivity.
- Fast and Reliable 85W Charging: Offers high-capacity, speedy charging for laptops up to 85W, so you spend less time tethered to an outlet and more time being productive.
- What You Get: Anker USB-C Hub (7-in-1), welcome guide, 18-month warranty, and our friendly customer service.
Beyond home controls
HomeView is also a communications and entertainment screen. Apple lists Apple Music with lyrics and animated album art, Apple Podcasts, Apple News, Apple TV, compatible third-party audio and video apps, multiroom audio, FaceTime with Center Stage, Messages, Intercom, recipes, timers, Find My and Live Activities.
Why it can feel easier than Home Assistant
HomeView packages the display, speakers, voice assistant, user recognition and Apple Home controls into one appliance. An Apple household that already has compatible iPhones and accessories can concentrate on placing or mounting the unit, enrolling household members, adding accessories and creating scenes instead of assembling a server, dashboard display and voice endpoint.
Rank #4
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- Please Note: To reach 10Gbps speed, keep the cable under 3.3 ft. For USB A Male to USB C adapters, try flipping the USB C connector. USB C Male to USB A adapters support bidirectional 10Gbps transfer within 3.3 ft
That simplicity is an architectural trade-off, not evidence that Home Assistant is command-line-only. Home Assistant’s official getting-started documentation says most of the setup is handled in its user interface, and its automation editor does not require coding. The difference is that Home Assistant exposes many more choices once the basic setup is complete.
| Area | Apple HomeView | Home Assistant |
|---|---|---|
| Setup and daily use | Purpose-built appliance with Apple’s interface, Siri AI, FaceTime and household profiles | Runs on user-owned hardware; most setup is available through the UI, with more configuration exposed |
| Device ecosystem | Apple Home, Matter, Apple Home Collection and selected third-party apps and accessories | Thousands of devices and brands, with local protocols preferred when available |
| Automation | Integrated scenes, accessory control and hands-free automations | Visual editor, blueprints, triggers, conditions, actions, dashboards and optional YAML |
| Privacy and architecture | Apple describes Secure Exclaves, on-device processing or Private Cloud Compute, plus face-gated personal content | Data remains local and locally connected devices do not require cloud service; optional Cloud adds remote access and voice integrations |
| Cost model | Paid physical product, with mounts sold separately | Free, open-source software; users pay for selected hardware and optional Cloud services |
How to decide between them
Choose HomeView if you want an appliance
- Your household already uses iPhones, Apple Home and compatible Matter accessories.
- You want a polished shared screen for cameras, lights, climate controls and scenes.
- FaceTime, Apple Music, Intercom and Siri AI matter as much as automation.
- You prefer a fixed supported ecosystem over maintaining a server and integrations.
Choose Home Assistant if you want control
- You need unusual devices or a broad choice of brands and local protocols.
- Automations require complex triggers, conditions, reusable blueprints or custom actions.
- You want dashboards designed around your own rooms, sensors and workflows.
- Operation during an internet outage and long-term control over the platform are priorities.
Home Assistant is free and open source, but “free” refers to the software. You still need hardware on which to run it, and optional Home Assistant Cloud services can add remote access and voice integrations.
Best Value
- 5-in-1 Connectivity: Equipped with a 4K HDMI port, a 5 Gbps USB-C data port, two 5 Gbps USB-A ports, and a USB C 100W PD-IN port. Note: The USB C 100W PD-IN port supports only charging and does not support data transfer devices such as headphones or speakers.
- Powerful Pass-Through Charging: Supports up to 85W pass-through charging so you can power up your laptop while you use the hub. Note: Pass-through charging requires a charger (not included). Note: To achieve full power for iPad, we recommend using a 45W wall charger.
- Transfer Files in Seconds: Move files to and from your laptop at speeds of up to 5 Gbps via the USB-C and USB-A data ports. Note: The USB C 5Gbps Data port does not support video output.
- HD Display: Connect to the HDMI port to stream or mirror content to an external monitor in resolutions of up to 4K@30Hz. Note: The USB-C ports do not support video output.
- What You Get: Anker 332 USB-C Hub (5-in-1), welcome guide, our worry-free 18-month warranty, and friendly customer service.
A practical HomeView setup plan
Apple has not published a universal installation script for every accessory, so the exact screens will depend on your home. The practical sequence is:
- Choose the location. Use the tabletop base or select the wall-mount hardware and power method appropriate for the installation.
- Enroll household users. Set up the people who need personalized Home Screens and verify the paired, recently unlocked iPhone or iPad requirement for protected personal content.
- Add accessories. Bring compatible Apple Home and Matter lights, thermostats, locks, blinds and other devices into the home configuration.
- Add cameras. Confirm that each camera supports the Apple Home features you need. Enable the supported iCloud+ plan if encrypted recognition of people, pets, packages or vehicles is required.
- Build scenes and automations. Use touch or Siri AI for everyday actions, then test lock, lighting, climate and camera behavior from the shared display.
- Check every user’s view. Verify that shared controls appear for everyone while personal content remains gated as expected.
Can HomeView replace Home Assistant?
For an Apple-focused household seeking a shared control panel, it can replace the need to design and maintain a separate dashboard. It cannot match Home Assistant’s stated support for thousands of devices and brands, its local dashboards, optional YAML and broad automation model. HomeView is therefore an alternative for a particular experience—simple, integrated and family-facing—not a universal substitute for an extensible home-automation platform.
Using both platforms
A hybrid arrangement is possible. Home Assistant can remain the integration and automation layer while HomeView acts as an Apple-facing display and control surface. Compatibility depends on the devices and the Apple Home integrations involved, so full feature parity should be verified for each specific product rather than assumed.
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What the £299 price does and does not include
The £299 UK launch price covers the HomeView unit in either listed form factor. It does not include the separately priced wall-mount power accessories. Camera recognition features may also require a supported iCloud+ subscription. Home Assistant takes the opposite approach: the software has no purchase price, but the user supplies compatible hardware and may choose paid cloud services.
The bottom line
HomeView is the easier starting point when the household already lives in Apple’s ecosystem and wants one attractive screen for people, media and smart-home controls. Home Assistant remains the stronger choice for local operation, unusual hardware and automation depth. The deciding question is whether you value an integrated appliance more than an open platform you can keep extending.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
