Apple is reportedly preparing to unveil HomeView, a Siri-powered smart-home control centre with a six-inch display, as it seeks to close the gap with Google and Amazon.
Apple’s first smart display is expected to be called HomeView, marking a shift away from the Home Hub label that had been widely discussed in recent weeks. According to reporting by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the device is due to be unveiled at Apple’s “Welcome Home” event on 13 October, alongside refreshed HomePod mini and Apple TV hardware as the company steps up its bid to build a more credible presence in the smart home market.
The new device is expected to come in two variants. MacRumors, citing Gurman’s reporting, says one version will be a countertop model with a metal speaker base and colour options including space grey, silver, starlight and pink. A wall-mounted model is also said to be in development, using a flatter square base and offered only in space grey and silver. Both versions are reported to use an A18 chip and a 6-inch touchscreen, placing the product somewhere between a control panel and a compact speaker.
Apple’s push into this category reflects a broader effort to turn its long-standing HomeKit platform into a more capable smart-home system. Apple launched HomeKit in 2014, followed by the Home app in 2016, but its hardware has not matched the scale of rivals such as Google and Amazon in categories including smart speakers, video doorbells and security cameras. According to Apple’s own Home app materials, the company’s home-hub approach is intended to let users manage accessories across Apple devices, while the new HomeView is expected to act as a Siri-based command centre with touch control, a limited set of Apple apps and no dedicated App Store. It is also expected to support Thread and Matter, the connectivity standards designed to help devices from different manufacturers work together.
MacRumors says HomeView is not expected to ship until around mid-November, later than the updated HomePod mini and Apple TV, which are now expected to reach stores at the end of October. Reporting has also pointed to a second Apple launch window on 27 October, although that event has not been confirmed. That later showcase is said to be reserved for a broader hardware refresh, including new MacBook Pro models, an updated iMac and an OLED-equipped iPad mini.
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