Apple's new home screen knows who is looking. It costs ₹39,900 in India

Picture this. You walk into the kitchen in the morning. A small screen on the counter sees your face and shows your plan for the day. Your sister walks in, and it switches to her plan. A guest walks in, and it hides anything private.

That is HomeView, a new gadget that Apple announced on October 13, 2026. In India it costs ₹39,900. Pre-orders opened the same day, and it reaches buyers on November 13. Here is what it is, in simple words.

First, what is HomeView?

HomeView is a smart display. Think of a smart speaker, the kind you ask to play songs, but with a screen on the front. It is not a phone or a laptop. It sits in one place at home and helps the whole family.

It has a 7-inch screen on top of a dome-shaped speaker base, joined by a steel hinge that lets it tilt. There are two versions. One stands on a table. The other hangs on a wall. The table one comes in silver, starlight, rose pink and space gray.

Inside is Apple's A18 chip. A chip is the brain of a gadget. It does all the thinking.

Watch on YouTube

How does it know who is looking?

HomeView can recognise up to six people by their face. Each person gets their own home screen, with their own apps and widgets. A widget is a small box on the screen that shows one thing, like the weather or your next class.

A screen switches colour for person 1 to person 6, then shows a lock and the words guest mode when no known person is there — Six people, six home screens, one guest mode

Gizmodo, which saw it at Apple's launch, says it tells family members apart using their face, their voice and how close their paired iPhone or Apple Watch is.

What if nobody it knows is in front of it? Then it goes into a guest mode that hides personal things like calendars and texts, Engadget reported.

Apple says the face data is kept in a locked-off part of the chip called Secure Exclaves. In Apple's words, it "cannot be accessed by the HomeView software, apps, the user, or Apple".

What can it actually do?

Talk with Siri AI, Apple's upgraded voice helper, in English. In one demo, Siri understood "play that song Jeff texted me about".
Play music and podcasts from Apple Music and Apple Podcasts.
Make FaceTime video calls with friends and family.
Show home cameras, up to nine video feeds at once.
Listen for the sound of smoke or carbon monoxide alarms.

It also changes what it shows based on how far away you are. From across the room it shows big, simple things. Walk closer and it shows more detail.

A person marker walks toward a screen; the screen changes from a big clock to a detailed view with weather, a class reminder and music — The screen changes as you walk closer

One small catch: Gizmodo found the screen only tilts up and down by hand. It does not turn to face you on its own.

Another catch: to let Siri use your own messages and plans, you need an iPhone or iPad with Apple Intelligence, Apple's AI system. Without one, Siri on HomeView can still answer general questions and help find music, 9to5Mac reports.

Who is Apple up against?

Amazon and Google already sell smart displays, called the Echo Show and the Nest Hub. Gizmodo's writer said HomeView "makes smart hubs like the Amazon Echo Show 10 and Google Nest Hubs feel like cheap junk".

That was a first look at a launch event, not a full test at home. Proper reviews will come once people use it for weeks.

How much does it cost?

In India, both versions cost ₹39,900. The wall version needs a mount, which is sold on its own, starting at ₹6,900. In the US, HomeView costs $299.

To picture the Indian price: ₹39,900 is the same as 399 visits to a ₹100 chai-and-samosa stop.

Countries getting it include India, the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It will not be sold in the European Union.

What else did Apple launch?

HomeView was not alone. On the same day, Apple also showed a new HomePod mini 2 speaker and a new Apple TV 4K box, MacRumors reports.

A timeline lights up three dates: October 13 pre-orders open, October 30 HomePod mini 2 arrives, November 13 HomeView and Apple TV 4K arrive — Three dates to remember

MacRumors says the HomePod mini 2 launches on October 30, and HomeView and the new Apple TV 4K on November 13. Apple also showed a set of smart home gadgets called the Apple Home Collection, with cameras, a door lock, thermostats and sensors made with LG and Schneider.

Ray Wong shared this first look from the launch on X:

See the post on X

Why this matters

Phones are personal: one phone, one person. A home gadget is shared by everyone in the house. HomeView tries to solve that by knowing who is standing in front of it.

Whether families actually want a screen that recognises faces is the big question. The answer will come after November 13, when people start using it at home.

Sources

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