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Apple's HomeView smart display opens for preorder after positive first reviews

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Summary

  • Apple's first smart display, the $299 HomeView, opened for preorder on 13 November 2026 with delivery expected in mid-December.
  • The HomeView is Apple's first smart speaker with Siri AI and its first smart home hub with an always-on screen, in tabletop and wall-mounted versions.
  • It belongs to the Apple Home Collection, announced about a month earlier and co-developed with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric.
  • Only a handful of LG cameras and a video doorbell were orderable on day one; other collection devices had no estimated ship dates.
  • Apple entered the smart display market years after Amazon and Google, which have sold such devices for nearly a decade.
  • A review published 12 November found the HomeView fast and capable at smart home control but heavily reliant on the iPhone.

Reactions

  • Reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy called the HomeView her new favorite smart display after a week of testing.
  • She wrote that her tech-averse husband immediately asked for one for his office.
  • She wrote that her teenage daughter wanted nothing to do with it, saying she would just use her iPhone.
  • The review gave the HomeView a score of 7.
  • She argued Apple should have included a wall mount and adapter with the wall-mounted version or lowered its price.

Timeline newest first

  1. The first Apple Home Collection devices, co-developed with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric, went up for preorder on Apple's online store on 13 November 2026, with delivery expected in mid-December.
  2. The LG Outdoor Cam ($299.95), LG Indoor Cam ($199.95), and LG Video Doorbell ($249.95) were the only Home Collection devices orderable on 13 November, shipping 11 to 17 December 2026.
  3. The LG Floodlight Cam ($399.95), LG Smart Deadbolt Lock ($349.95), LG Smart Thermostat ($199.95), Schneider Home Smart Thermostat ($199.95), and Schneider Home Room Sensor ($39.95) were listed with no estimated ship dates.
  4. Reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy answered readers' questions on 12 November 2026 after spending a week testing the $299 HomeView in tabletop and wall-mounted versions.
  5. A review published 12 November 2026 called Apple's $299 HomeView a fast, well-made smart home hub and kitchen companion, and its first smart speaker with Siri AI.
  6. The HomeView has a 7-inch 1088-by-1088 touchscreen, a Center Stage camera, a Thread radio and Matter controller, and can stream up to nine HomeKit Secure Video cameras at once.
  7. The review found the HomeView interrupts hands-free use with authentication checks and redirects to the iPhone, and makes family members' text messages easy to read.
  8. The wall-mounted HomeView costs the same as the tabletop version but includes no mount or power adapter; with Apple's $39 adapter a setup starts at about $400.

Sources newest first

  • Apple announces release dates for the first Apple Home Collection smart devicestheverge.com· 31h

    A Verge article reports that the first Apple Home Collection smart home devices, co-developed with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric, went up for preorder on Apple's online store on 13 November 2026 with mid-December delivery, led by the new Siri AI-powered HomeView smart display. Only a handful of LG accessories were orderable, with the LG Outdoor Cam at $299.95, Indoor Cam at $199.95, and Video Doorbell at $249.95, while other devices had no ship dates.

  • I reviewed the Apple HomeView, ask me anythingtheverge.com· 2d

    The Verge hosts a Q&A in which senior reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, who spent the week testing Apple's $299 HomeView smart display — mounting it, cooking with it, and trying its new Siri AI — calls it her new favorite, and takes readers' questions from 2PM ET on 12 November 2026. She says her tech-averse husband was a big fan, though her teenage daughter was less of one.

  • Apple’s HomeView is my new favorite smart display — but not my daughter’stheverge.com· 2d

    The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy reviews Apple's first smart display, the $299 HomeView, calling it a gorgeous, speedy smart home hub and great kitchen companion with standout Siri AI Personal Context — but one that leans too heavily on the iPhone and makes family members' texts too easy to read. Her teenage daughter wants nothing to do with it; her tech-averse husband immediately asked for one.

Background newest first

  • The Verge’s 2026 gift guide for dadstheverge.com· 30h

    The Verge's 2026 gift guide, by Ryan Waniata, recommends gifts for the modern father — gamer, creator, chef, or gadget lover — including Antigravity's $799 A1 drone, the $449 Sonos Ace Ultra headphones, Alienware's $750 QD-OLED monitor, and the $650 repairable Fairphone 6 Plus. The guide also rounds up early Black Friday deals, from a GTA VI preorder to CMF's milk-carton Bluetooth speaker.

  • Secure Exclaves and Ambient Sensing - Apple Security Researchapple.com

    Apple's Security Engineering and Core OS teams describe Secure Exclaves, a new isolated runtime in Apple silicon that processes camera and microphone data for ambient sensing—such as HomeView person recognition and 'Hey Siri' detection—without exposing raw audio or video to the main operating system. They detail its L4-derived microkernel, Secure Page Table Monitor, Secure IPC, and formally verified design, calling it the most secure runtime Apple has created.

  • Apple Is Entering Its Slop Era404media.co· 15d

    In an opinion column for 404 Media, Matthew Gault argues Apple has entered its "slop era," blindsided by AI and, under new CEO John Ternus, launching hardware its previous leaders rejected — including a touch-screen laptop and a folding iPhone Duo that Gault says is already cracking. He traces a petty, decades-old grudge to coworkers at a Dallas Banana Republic who pressured him to trade his Motorola Razr for an iPhone.