Apple is entering the smart home market thanks to the announcements made during its “Welcome Home” event, which were headlined by the unveiling of the Apple HomeView hub and the Home Collection lineup of smart home accessories.
Designed to be at the centre of any smart home, the Apple HomeView brings entertainment, connection, and management together in one place, so users can play music, make calls, or control smart household devices hands-free with voice control. The device will also feature Siri AI, the next version of Apple’s AI companion, which is designed to be more capable and conversational, and, when paired with devices that feature Apple Intelligence, can draw from a user’s relevant information across their apps for more personalised and helpful responses.
Featuring an aluminium chassis and a 7-inch Liquid Retina display connected to a domed speaker base, the Apple HomeView is designed to fit easily into any living space, with a hinge that allows it to be tilted and viewed from any height. The device will also come in a separate wall-mounted variant for those who prefer a more permanent fixture.
With its custom-engineered acoustic system, the HomeView also offers rich entertainment from anywhere in the home, from providing crisp background music via Apple Music – complete with animated album art and lyrics – to Apple Podcasts, Apple News, Apple TV, and compatible third-party audio and video apps. HomeView also helps users stay in touch or get things done around the house, from making and receiving FaceTime calls to providing assistance such as displaying recipes from the web while cooking, or setting up hands-free timers to track chores or workouts.
HomeView can recognise up to six different users and offer a personalised experience for each, offering separate profiles such as different Home Screen designs, apps and widgets. Built to keep a home connected, the device can securely control a smart home by touch or with Siri AI, adjusting smart devices like lights, doors, blinds, or cameras from one convenient location.
Speaking of which, Apple also debuted the Home Collection, a new lineup of smart home devices that will be compatible with HomeView. These include indoor and outdoor cameras, thermostats, temperature sensors, and a video doorbell and door lock, all designed in collaboration with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric, and made easy to set up starting with one tap with an iPhone.
LG’s lineup of four cameras gives users a private and intelligent way to monitor their homes, including a Video Doorbell that offers a 2.5k resolution front camera and a full HD bottom camera that captures separate views of visitors and packages, along with a built-in spotlight and a chime that plays through HomeView or compatible speakers like the HomePod series, a Floodlight Cam that enables perimeter monitoring with adaptive floodlights that activate when motion is detected and low-light colour night vision, an Outdoor Cam for flexible outdoor coverage, and an Indoor Cam that will automatically tilt upward to check in on a home and tilt back down when a user returns to the household.
Bringing a new level of convenience to home access, LG’s Smart Deadbolt Lock uses Ultra Wideband technology to tell how close a user is or when they are approaching the door, allowing it to unlock automatically when it detects a user with a home key on a compatible iPhone or Apple Watch without any physical input. If users prefer traditional manual access, they can also tap to unlock with an iPhone or Apple Watch, use an integrated PIN pad, or rely on a hidden backup key slot. For security, the lock can also sense if the door has been opened, closed, or tampered with, alerting users if it’s opened while locked. By syncing up with HomeView or the Home App, users can also see who is at the door, speak to visitors, or unlock and lock the door remotely.
Rounding off the Home Collection are two Smart Thermostats – one from LG Electronics and one from Schneider Electric. Using on-device intelligence from iPhone, the Adaptive Temperature function in the Home App can automatically adjust the thermostats based on time of day or whether there is someone in the house, ensuring the house is always at the desired temperature without manual scheduling. By syncing up with built-in sensors in the HomeView, or using LG Electronics’ and Schneider Electric’s new standalone temperature and humidity sensors, the thermostats can also read temperature and humidity across multiple rooms and display usage insights over time to help with energy management.
Working in tandem with each other or with the HomeView, the devices allow users to control everything with a single tap on iPhone via Apple Home, or with Siri via voice commands, ensuring a home is monitored, secured, and sufficiently cooled as users leave and enter throughout the day.
Apple HomeView will be available in silver, starlight, rose pink, and space grey for S$399, with pre-orders starting in Singapore on 15 October, and will be available beginning on 13 November. A separate wall-mounted variant for the device will also be available, with an additional choice of three purpose-built mounts from Schneider Home.
The Apple Home Collection will be available starting in December, with select accessories available starting early 2027 in the US, UK and Canada only.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
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