# Apple HomeView: $299 Siri AI Hub That Knows Your Face

> Apple HomeView is a $299 Siri AI home hub that recognizes up to six faces. Pre-orders opened Oct 13, 2026; it ships Nov 13, not in the EU.

- Author: Nitish Garg, Founder & CEO, CellCog
- Published: 2026-10-13
- Canonical (HTML): https://cellcog.ai/blog/apple-homeview/
- Section: Guides / Choosing a platform
- Publisher: CellCog (https://cellcog.ai), the AI employee platform. Blog index for agents: https://cellcog.ai/blog/llms.txt

## Key points

- Apple announced HomeView on October 13, 2026: a 7-inch home hub on a speaker base, $299 in the U.S. for both the tabletop and the wall-mounted model.
- It recognizes up to six people by face. Personal content from Messages and Calendar appears only when that person is recognized and their paired iPhone or iPad is nearby and recently unlocked.
- It runs Siri AI on Apple Intelligence. Requests use on-device processing or Private Cloud Compute, and personal context needs an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone or iPad.
- Camera and microphone data are processed in Secure Exclaves on the A18 chip, which Apple says no HomeView software, app, user or Apple itself can access.
- HomeView is not sold in the European Union, because Siri AI is not available in iOS there.
- Pre-orders opened October 13 in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand; it ships November 13, and wall mounts start at $59.95.

## At a glance

- **What is Apple HomeView?** A $299 smart home hub with a 7-inch screen and a speaker base, announced October 13, 2026. It runs Siri AI and recognizes up to six people by face.
- **When can I get it?** Pre-orders opened October 13, 2026 in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand. It ships November 13.
- **What is the one caveat?** It is not sold in the European Union, and the personal features need an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone or iPad.

**Apple has a home hub that knows who is looking at it.** On October 13, 2026 Apple introduced HomeView, a $299 device "designed to be central to the home and personal to everyone in it." It pairs a 7-inch screen with a speaker base, runs the new Siri AI, and recognizes up to six people by their faces. Pre-orders opened the same day and it ships November 13.

A Polymarket post that morning summed it up as a "$300 AI-powered smart home hub that uses facial recognition to personalize itself for each household member," and that is accurate. The details that matter sit in Apple's [announcement](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/10/meet-apple-homeview-a-new-way-to-enjoy-entertainment-and-manage-the-home/): what the face check unlocks, where the voice requests are processed, and where it will not be sold.

## What Apple announced

*Table: Apple HomeView at a glance, from Apple's announcement (October 13, 2026)*

| Item | What Apple says |
|---|---|
| Price | $299 (U.S.), tabletop and wall-mounted models |
| Display | 7-inch Liquid Retina, brightness from 500 nits down to 0.3 nits |
| Chip | A18, with Secure Exclaves for camera and microphone data |
| People it recognizes | Up to six, by face |
| Assistant | Siri AI, powered by Apple Intelligence |
| Pre-orders | October 13 in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, India, New Zealand; Singapore October 15 |
| Availability | November 13 |
| Not sold in | The European Union |
| Wall mounts | $59.95 USB-C, $79.95 AC wired, $129.95 PoE wired (early 2027) |

It also plays music and podcasts, makes FaceTime calls with Center Stage, and works as a smart home dashboard: the Home Camera face shows up to nine camera feeds at once. Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, put the pitch in one line: "Apple HomeView is designed to be shared by everyone in the home yet feel completely personal to each user".

## What the face check unlocks

Recognition is how one shared screen becomes six personal ones. Each enrolled person gets their own Home Screen of apps and widgets, while shared albums and music stay open to everyone, guests included.

Apple adds a second condition for anything private. Personal content in apps like Messages and Calendar appears only when two things are true. In Apple's words, "content in apps like Messages and Calendar is only surfaced when the enrolled user is recognized by their face, and when their paired iPhone or iPad is present and has been recently unlocked." A face alone is not enough; the phone has to be in the room and recently opened.

The camera and microphone data run in a separate compartment of the chip. "Data that is processed and analyzed in Secure Exclaves cannot be accessed by the HomeView software, apps, the user, or Apple." Apple does not describe in the announcement how face enrollment data is stored, so that remains a question for its documentation.

## Siri AI on a shared screen

HomeView is the first home device built around Siri AI, the rebuilt Siri Apple shipped in beta with iOS 27 in September; our [Siri AI explainer](https://cellcog.ai/blog/what-is-siri-ai/) covers what it does. On HomeView it comes in two levels. Anyone in the house gets its general knowledge, conversation and music discovery. With an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone or iPad, Siri AI also draws on that person's own context and can take action across their apps.

Requests run on the device or in Private Cloud Compute, and Apple says that "When processed in Private Cloud Compute, data is not stored nor made accessible to Apple or anyone else." Conversations started on HomeView continue in the Siri app on a person's other Apple devices.

## Not in the EU

Apple is plain about the gap: "Apple HomeView is not available for sale in the European Union, as Siri AI is currently unavailable in iOS in the EU." It adds that "Apple is working constructively with the EU in an attempt to find a path forward." Siri AI on HomeView launches in English only, with Canadian French to follow in a software update.

## One morning, four home products

HomeView was the last of four smart home announcements Apple posted within four minutes, read from its newsroom feed.

*Table: Apple's home announcements, October 13, 2026 (newsroom feed times, UTC)*

| Time | Announcement |
|---|---|
| 12:56 | [Apple Home Collection](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/10/introducing-apple-home-collection-a-new-lineup-of-smart-home-accessories/): cameras, thermostats and a lock, designed with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric |
| 12:57 | [Next-generation HomePod mini](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/10/apple-announces-the-next-generation-of-homepod-mini/) |
| 12:58 | [New Apple TV 4K](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/10/apple-unveils-the-new-apple-tv-4k/), with Siri AI |
| 12:59 | [Apple HomeView](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/10/meet-apple-homeview-a-new-way-to-enjoy-entertainment-and-manage-the-home/) |

## What it means for AI at home

HomeView is an assistant for a household: it answers, shows, plays and controls the home for whoever is standing in front of it. That is a different job from work that has to carry on from one day to the next, with its own inbox, task list and memory of what was decided.

## What we are watching

- Apple's support documentation on how face enrollment data is stored and deleted.
- Whether Siri AI, and HomeView with it, reaches the EU.
- Early reviews of recognition accuracy in busy households when units ship November 13.

## Sources

- Apple Newsroom, [Meet Apple HomeView](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/10/meet-apple-homeview-a-new-way-to-enjoy-entertainment-and-manage-the-home/), October 13, 2026.
- Apple Newsroom, [Introducing Apple Home Collection](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/10/introducing-apple-home-collection-a-new-lineup-of-smart-home-accessories/), [Apple announces the next generation of HomePod mini](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/10/apple-announces-the-next-generation-of-homepod-mini/) and [Apple unveils the new Apple TV 4K](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/10/apple-unveils-the-new-apple-tv-4k/), October 13, 2026.
- Polymarket on X, [post of October 13, 2026](https://x.com/Polymarket/status/2109995922243387504), 13:13 UTC.

## FAQ

**How much does Apple HomeView cost?**

$299 in the U.S. for both the tabletop and the wall-mounted model. Wall mounts are extra: $59.95 for USB-C, $79.95 for AC wired, and $129.95 for PoE wired in early 2027.

**How does HomeView face recognition work?**

It recognizes up to six enrolled people and gives each a personal Home Screen. Personal content from apps like Messages and Calendar shows only when the person is recognized and their paired iPhone or iPad is present and recently unlocked.

**Does HomeView use Gemini?**

Apple does not say so. Its announcement describes HomeView as powered by Apple Intelligence with Siri AI, with requests handled on device or in Private Cloud Compute.

**Why is HomeView not available in the EU?**

Apple says Siri AI is currently unavailable in iOS in the EU and that it is working with the EU to find a path forward.

**Do I need an iPhone to use HomeView?**

Basic Siri AI answers, music and smart home control work for anyone. Personal context, such as messages and calendar, needs an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone or iPad.

## Related

- [What Is Siri AI? Apple's Rebuilt Siri Ships in Beta on September 14, Explained](https://cellcog.ai/blog/what-is-siri-ai/index.md)
- [Apple Tightens macOS Full Disk Access Over AI Agents](https://cellcog.ai/blog/macos-full-disk-access-ai-agents/index.md)
- [What Is an AI Employee? The 5-Part Test for a Standing AI Worker](https://cellcog.ai/blog/what-is-an-ai-employee/index.md)

## The AI employee for this read

[AI Research Assistant](https://cellcog.ai/ai-employees/ai-research-assistant): I built this page. For what it covers, hire a research assistant: it reads the primary sources and cites every line.

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