Apple is finally coming for the kitchen counter. After years of rumours about a smart home display, the Apple HomeView smart home hub, a $299 device with a 7-inch Liquid Retina display, an A18 chip and Siri AI at its heart, goes on sale on Friday, November 13, 2026. Pre-orders have been open since mid-October, and it will come in tabletop and wall-mounted versions.
That alone would make it one of the biggest smart home launches of the year. But fresh code found in the iOS 27.3 beta on November 5 suggests Apple may have bigger plans for the device — including future support for third-party AI chatbot apps and new anti-spoofing protection for its face recognition. None of that has been announced, and none of it is guaranteed.
What is the Apple HomeView smart home hub?
The HomeView is Apple’s first dedicated smart home display: a screen built to be the control centre for a connected home, rather than a tablet that happens to sit in the kitchen. Apple announced it on October 13 at its “Welcome home” event, alongside the HomePod mini 2 and a new Apple TV 4K. It launches on Friday, November 13, 2026, the same day as the new Apple TV 4K, as MacRumors reported.
- 7-inch Liquid Retina display
- A18 chip
- Thread and Matter support for smart home devices
- FaceTime with Center Stage, so the camera follows you around the room
- Siri AI, powered by Apple Intelligence
- HomePod multiroom audio and Intercom
Photo: Andrey Matveev / Pexels.
What can the Apple HomeView actually do?
In practice, the HomeView is built around the things a household does every day. It plays music, shows the calendar, displays photos, pulls up recipes, and controls the lights, locks, thermostat and cameras through the Home app. It makes FaceTime calls with Center Stage, so you can cook or tidy while the camera keeps you in frame.
It also has a set of watch-style faces for the home, including Photos, Flow and Snoopy faces, a Home Modular face made of widgets, and a Home Camera face that can show up to nine live camera feeds at once. With iCloud+ recognition of people, pets, packages and vehicles, and listening for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, it is more control hub than smart speaker with a screen.
A screen that knows who is looking
The HomeView’s most distinctive feature is that it recognises who is standing in front of it. It can tell up to six users apart by their face and give each of them a personalised Home Screen, with their own calendar, music, photos and smart home controls. Walk up in the morning and you see your day; your partner walks up and sees theirs.
That is a genuinely useful idea for a shared family device, and a notable step beyond what Amazon’s Echo Show or Google’s Nest Hub offer. But face recognition on a device that opens up personal calendars and home controls raises an obvious question: how hard is it to fool?
Fresh code hints at AI chatbot apps — read the fine print
On November 5, MacRumors reported that code in the iOS 27.3 beta, found by code investigator pdfu, points to future support for third-party AI chatbot apps on the HomeView. The code refers to a “Conversational Apps” category, with systems for two-way audio routing, session management and handling interruptions — the plumbing an app like ChatGPT or Claude would need to hold a spoken conversation on a smart display.
That is a big deal, because at launch the HomeView has no App Store at all — and the demand is plain to see, with ChatGPT alone now at around 900 million weekly active users, as we reported in our piece on ChatGPT hitting 900 million users.
But the caveats matter as much as the code. MacRumors’ source says the framework is “still not fully wired up”, Apple has announced nothing, and chatbot support — whether from ChatGPT, Claude or anyone else — is unconfirmed. Code in a beta is a clue about what Apple is exploring, not a promise. It may arrive in a later software update, or it may never ship in this form at all.
Anti-spoofing protection is in the code too
The same iOS 27.3 code also points to new anti-spoofing protection for the HomeView’s face recognition. According to the findings, a profile lock system would kick in after three suspected spoof attempts — for example, someone holding up a photo of you — and require re-authentication with an iPhone. Apple is also reported to be testing a cooldown or lockout system, which could arrive in a future software update. For a device that can control your home based on your face, that protection matters.
Could the HomeView double as a security camera?
The code strings raise one more possibility. The Home Camera face, and the iCloud+ recognition features described above, suggest Apple is building the HomeView into a home security hub. Some of the strings point towards a possible HomeKit Secure Video camera mode for the device, which would let it act as a camera in its own right rather than just a screen for other cameras.
Again, be careful with this one: Apple has not announced any such mode, and the code strings alone do not prove that the HomeView itself will work as a camera. It is an unconfirmed possibility suggested by the code, not a launch feature.
What the HomeView will not do — yet
For all its promise, the HomeView has clear limits at launch. There is no App Store on the device, so you cannot download third-party apps the way you would on an iPhone or iPad. Third-party audio and video apps can be beamed to the screen from an iPhone or iPad, in a style similar to CarPlay, but native third-party apps are not available.
The other big limit is geography. The HomeView will not be sold in the European Union at first, because Siri AI is currently unavailable there. That will frustrate readers in the EU, although the UK is not affected by the restriction.
Price, colours and release date
The details are straightforward. The Apple HomeView costs $299, comes in tabletop and wall-mounted versions, and is available in four colours: silver, starlight, rose pink and space gray. Pre-orders opened in mid-October, and it goes on sale on Friday, November 13, 2026, alongside the fourth-generation Apple TV 4K — which also costs $299 and adds Siri AI, the A19 chip, 128GB of storage and a redesigned Siri Remote with Find My.
How the HomeView compares with Echo Show and Nest Hub
The obvious rivals are Amazon’s Echo Show and Google’s Nest Hub, and on price Apple is asking a lot more. An Echo Show 5 or a Nest Hub can be had for around $50 to $100, often less on sale, and both offer large app and service ecosystems. The HomeView, at $299, is in a different league of pricing.
What Apple is selling instead is depth: far tighter integration with the iPhone, HomeKit, Thread and Matter; face recognition that personalises the screen for up to six people; and a Home Camera face with iCloud+ recognition. Our guide to the best smart home devices for beginners in 2026 is a good starting point if you are building a smart home around it.
Photo: cottonbro studio / Pexels.
Should you buy an Apple HomeView?
If you already live in Apple’s world — an iPhone in your pocket, HomeKit devices around the house, maybe a HomePod or two — and you want a central screen for the kitchen or hallway, the HomeView is the product Apple has been building towards for years. It is the first Apple device designed from the ground up to run a home, not just to control one from your phone.
If you are in the EU, you cannot buy one yet. If you want the widest choice of third-party apps or the lowest price, the Echo Show and Nest Hub remain the cheaper picks. And if you are tempted mainly by the chatbot code, wait: it is unconfirmed, Apple has announced nothing, and it may never arrive.
Frequently asked questions
When does the Apple HomeView launch?
Friday, November 13, 2026. It costs $299, with pre-orders open since mid-October, in tabletop and wall-mounted versions.
Is there an App Store on the HomeView?
No. There is no App Store on the device at launch. Third-party audio and video apps can be beamed to it from an iPhone or iPad, in a style similar to CarPlay.
Will the HomeView work with ChatGPT or Claude?
Not that Apple has announced. Code found in the iOS 27.3 beta suggests future support for “Conversational Apps”, which could include AI chatbots, but this is unconfirmed and the framework is not yet fully built.
Will the HomeView be sold in Europe?
Not initially. It will not be sold in the European Union at launch because Siri AI is currently unavailable there. The UK is not affected by that restriction.
The bottom line
The Apple HomeView smart home hub is the company’s most interesting smart home product in years: a $299 device that finally gives Siri a face and a home a screen. But the code in the iOS 27.3 beta is the real reason to keep watching it. If AI chatbot apps and anti-spoofing protection do arrive, the HomeView could become something bigger than a smart display — a genuinely conversational hub for the whole home. Until then, judge it by what it does on November 13, and treat the code for what it is: a fascinating hint, not a promise.