Apple Reboots Its Smart-Home Strategy With New Hardware and a ‘Home Collection’
Wired · LC · trust 54/100
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Apple has lagged in the smart home race, which Amazon and Google have dominated for a decade with Alexa and Google Assistant (now Gemini) , respectively.
But after finally revamping Siri AI this year and turning the butt-of-the-joke voice assistant into a more competitive companion —paired with a more mature Matter-supported ecosystem of smart home gadgets—Apple now has the brains to power the home system it has always envisioned.
That starts with three new devices: the Apple HomeView, the company's first smart display ; the HomePod Mini 2 smart speaker; and the fourth-generation Apple TV 4K.
Apple announced the products at a media-only event in New York City, and it also revealed a slew of new smart-home gadgets made in collaboration with LG and Schneider Electric, including a video doorbell , thermostats, and security cameras .
The cornerstone of Apple's latest smart-home push is the Apple HomeView, a countertop gadget made up of a 7-inch square display resting on a speaker base. It operates like smart displays we've seen from Amazon and Google, but it’s an entirely new device category for Apple.
It runs what Apple calls “HomeView Software,” so while the interface may resemble an iPhone or iPad , the HomeView runs a stand-alone operating system and lacks access to the App Store. As an alternative, Apple has curated a selection of apps for the system, including Messages, Safari, and FaceTime, alongside select third-party media apps like Spotify. (If an app developer has made an app for the CarPlay standard and it's installed on your iPhone, that app can also populate on the HomeView.)
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu Siri AI powers the core experience, which Apple revamped this year in iOS 27. Now, Siri can answer broad questions like Gemini or ChatGPT, and it can provide personalized answers; the same personal context Siri has cataloged on your iPhone is accessible to the HomeView. Ask it to open the recipe your friend Alex messaged about, or add a dentist appointment to the family calendar, and it can handle it.
Apple's HomeView supports up to six iCloud profiles, and each person can set up a custom view only visible to them once the device’s camera detects their face. Yes, there’s a camera on the HomeView. The computer vision trick where the HomeView displays a custom view for a specific individual when they approach it only works if the person’s iPhone is on the same Wi-Fi network and was recently unlocked. You need an iPhone with Apple Intelligence support (iPhone 15 Pro or newer) to get the most out of the device; you can't set it up with an iPad.
We have a separate story with more details if you'd like to read more about the HomeView, which is available for preorder now and goes on sale November 13 in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, Singapore, and South Africa. It costs $299.
One of the biggest problems with Apple's smart-home presence is its relatively meager HomeKit device ecosystem, especially compared to the many smart home devices that can be controlled by Amazon and Google’s platforms. The Matter standard —which allows supported devices like smart bulbs, smart switches, and smart shades to interact with any connected home platform—has helped expand HomeKit support. But Apple is also nudging the ecosystem along with the “Apple Home Collection.”
This new selection of smart-home hardware designed in collaboration with LG and Schneider Electric includes the LG Indoor Camera Plug-In ($200), LG Outdoor Cam Plug-In ($300), LG Video Doorbell ($250), LG Smart Deadbolt Lock ($350), LG Smart Thermostat ($200), LG Temperature Sensor ($40), Schneider Home Smart Thermostat ($200), and Schneider Home Room Sensor ($40).
Courtesy of Apple These devices connect to the Apple Home app automatically when you install them, and all of them are controllable through Apple’s products; you don't need separate LG or Schneider accounts or multiple apps.
I got a brief look at some of them in action. The LG Indoor Camera tilts downward when it detects you're home to give you some added privacy, though there's no privacy shutter to block the camera itself. The LG Deadbolt can unlock automatically as you approach by sensing your iPhone or Apple Watch; there's a nice green LED animation that circles the lock to show you when it unlocks. The LG Video Doorbell has two cameras: one to see who is at the door, and one to monitor any packages left at your door.
The LG Outdoor Camera has a floodlight upgrade ($400) that will automatically activate when it detects motion. With the right iCloud+ subscription , you can enable smart video descriptions that send alerts to tell you who is outside (it can recognize faces), that your pet has been spotted in the yard, or that a package has been dropped off.
The products in the Apple Home Collection will be available in December, with the security cameras launching in the UK, US, and Canada. The thermostats and door lock meet North American standards, so Apple is only selling them in the US and Canada.
Apple has decided not to launch a successor to the flagship 2023 HomePod 2 smart speaker—maybe it thinks the HomeView, which is essentially a speaker with a screen on it, would cannibalize sales. Instead, it has updated the smaller, cheaper sibling : Say hello to the HomePod Mini 2.
The Mini 2 costs $149, with preorders open now and official sales kicking off October 30. That's a $50 price bump from the original HomePod Mini, though only $30 more if you factor in Apple's recent price hike due to the ongoing memory crisis .
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu Oddly enough, the HomePod Mini 2 will not have the new Siri AI experience out of the box—that will arrive later on via a software update (and yes, you will need an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone to use Siri AI on the HomePod Mini 2). It's otherwise a minor hardware update,…
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