What is Apple HomeView?
Apple HomeView is a small touchscreen for your home, with a 7-inch display that sits on a speaker base, so you can keep it on a kitchen counter or buy the wall-mounted version and hang it up. It is Apple’s first product of this kind, meant as a shared screen for the whole household. Apple opened pre-orders in India on 13 October 2026 at Rs 39,900 for both models, and sales begin on 13 November through Apple’s online store and app.
How does it work?
HomeView is powered by Apple’s A18 chip and runs Siri AI as its assistant, while a 12-megapixel camera handles FaceTime calls and the square 1,088 by 1,088 pixel screen reaches a peak brightness of 500 nits. To talk to your devices, it uses three connection technologies. Wi-Fi 6E gives it a fast link to your router, while Thread is a low-power network that lets small battery-run sensors stay connected without draining their batteries. Matter is a shared standard that lets lights, locks and cameras from different brands take commands from the same screen. Once connected, it can control compatible HomeKit and Matter accessories, show feeds from compatible security cameras, and run home automations that you set up, besides playing music, showing photos and running supported apps. The launch coverage does not say how much memory the device has or whether Siri AI runs on the device or in the cloud, so those are details to watch for in reviews.
One screen for the family
HomeView uses face recognition to tell up to six people in your home apart, and when someone steps in front of it, it changes the content and settings it shows for that person. Apple says the screen keeps personal data private, but you need a compatible iPhone or iPad and an Apple Account to get that personalised experience.
Things to check before you buy
Siri AI works only in English at launch, and some features depend on other Apple devices, so Android phone users should check what works before ordering. The wall mount is sold separately and reportedly starts at Rs 6,900, which you should confirm on Apple India’s page. Your existing lights, locks and cameras also need HomeKit or Matter support for the screen to control them. Since it is a brand-new kind of product for Apple, there is no record yet of repair costs or software updates, and every claim so far comes from Apple because independent testing in India is yet to appear.
How does it compare?
One Indian tech site says HomeView costs well above Amazon’s Echo Show screens, and the mount and the Apple-device requirement widen that gap. It makes the most sense if your family already uses iPhones and iPads. HomeView looks like a well-built family screen but not a cheap one, and reviews still need to show whether Siri AI and the face profiles work well in a busy kitchen where many people talk at once.
