Apple’s HomeView has been a long time coming, and it follows the Cupertino-based tech giant’s familiar approach of arriving when it believes it can make the biggest impact and deliver the best user experience, rather than rushing to be first. It’s been a trend this fall, with the arrival of the iPhone Duo and Apple’s first touchscreen Macs. But HomeView doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s launching alongside the HomePod mini 2 and a new Apple TV 4K, and central to all three is Siri AI. As Apple’s first smart display, it’s also entering a crowded category that Amazon and Google have competed in for years, alongside dedicated smart calendars like Skylight and even digital photo frames. I’ve been living with two HomeViews for over a week now, and it’s a pretty formidable first showing, especially at $299, which, in the grand scheme of Apple products, is actually pretty affordable. Unsurprisingly, Apple’s approach is different from the competition. Deep ecosystem integration is a huge advantage, but perhaps more importantly, HomeView isn’t a smart display that constantly craves your attention or demands interaction. Home life is super busy, you know, it’s complicated, it’s complex, and people are moving around, and we wanted a device that was really designed specifically for that environment
Matthew Costello
That, it turns out, is very much by design. “Home life is super busy, you know, it’s complicated, it’s complex, and people are moving around, and we wanted a device that was really designed specifically for that environment,” Matthew Costello, Apple’s Vice President of Hardware Engineering, told me during an interview with TechRadar about HomeView and Apple’s broader smart home ambitions. Costello was joined by Cecilia Dantas, Home Product Marketing, and across our conversation, it became clear that Apple’s ambitions extend well beyond adding another screen to its lineup. The challenge was bringing together the hardware, software, and intelligence in something that feels natural in a shared space. A post shared by Jake Krol (@jake31krol)
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Why now? It starts with Siri AI
(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future) Apple has been making smart home products for years, but HomeView represents a turning point. Siri AI can now draw on the personal context stored on your iPhone, and Apple is extending that intelligence into devices designed for an entire household. Taking advantage of the iPhone as your personal AI hub
Matthew Costello
Costello pointed to the evolution of Siri AI and “taking advantage of the iPhone as your personal AI hub” as a major catalyst. Bringing that capability and “tying that into a device that is communal in nature in a home, we thought was a really important moment,” he said. It’s a significant part of why HomeView exists now rather than a few years ago, and Siri wasn’t simply something Apple added after developing the hardware. “But it really was constructed around Siri.” Costello sees AI as a fundamental shift in how people interact with technology, and Apple’s goal is to make that technology feel intuitive rather than complicated. Siri AI can now answer questions using broad world knowledge, handle conversational follow-ups, and take actions across thousands of integrated apps. But it’s the personal context that makes HomeView particularly interesting. Costello noted that Siri can now help with personal questions by “drawing on what’s already on your device,” including years of messages, mail, notes, photos, and calendar information stored on your iPhone. That means HomeView can answer questions without you having to explain every bit of context. During my testing, I asked Siri to find a song a friend had recommended in Messages. It found the recommendation, and I could ask it to play the song without picking up my phone. It took around 10 to 15 seconds, so there’s still room for improvement, but the experience showed the potential of having that intelligence available throughout the home. And HomeView can also understand what’s happening on its screen. If you’re following a recipe, for example, you can ask about substituting an ingredient without explaining which recipe you’re looking at. Apple also tailored Siri AI to play to the strengths of each device, with HomePod mini 2 focusing on personalized audio and Apple TV 4K introducing hands-free Siri. There’s another piece to the timing. Apple’s new Home Collection introduces a tier of accessories developed in closer collaboration with partners, building on Matter and Works with Apple Home to offer deeper integration. For Costello, a more capable Siri and a more integrated smart home ecosystem marked the right moment to introduce HomeView. A post shared by techradar (@techradar)
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The engineering behind something that looks deceptively simple
(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future) The standard HomeView has a square 7-inch Liquid Retina display perched above a circular speaker base, while the wall-mounted version offers a much slimmer profile. Both look relatively simple, but the decisions behind that design shaped nearly every aspect of the hardware. “Together with our Design Studio, we went on a long journey of exploration to figure out: How do you create something that’s a unique form for the home?” Costello said. And it all started with the display. Costello explained that Apple needed a shape and aspect ratio for the screen “that was unique from other form factors we have inside of Apple.” “So we ended up with the aspect ratio you see today,” he said. “That then drove a lot of decisions around where things were placed.” Even stability was a consideration. The base needed enough weight and substance to keep HomeView from tipping over when someone pressed the touchscreen, without sacrificing its relatively elegant appearance. How do you create something that’s a unique form for the home?…
