What has changed with Apple’s smart home line-up?
On 13 October 2026 Apple announced HomeView, a 7-inch touchscreen hub in two versions: a tabletop model with built-in speakers and a slimmer wall-mounted model. Both use an Apple A18 chip and a front-facing 12MP camera, and Apple says they recognise household members by face to show that person's calendar and messages. The announcement sat alongside a new HomePod mini, an updated Apple TV 4K and a partner-built range called Apple Home Collection.
| Product | UK price | UK availability |
|---|---|---|
| HomeView (tabletop) | £299 | Pre-order now, on sale 13 November |
| HomeView (wall mounted) | £299 | Pre-order now, on sale 13 November |
| Power Mount wall accessories | From £54.95 (USB-C), £69.95 (AC), £119.95 (PoE) | USB-C and AC orderable now; PoE early 2027 |
| LG Video Doorbell (wired) | From £229.95 | December 2026 |
| LG Indoor Cam / Outdoor Cam / Floodlight Cam | From £179.95 / £279.95 / £349.95 | December 2026 |
| LG Smart Deadbolt Lock, thermostats, sensors | No UK price listed | December 2026, some early 2027 |
The Apple Home Collection is made with LG and Schneider Electric. Apple's UK release says the lock is Matter-compatible and supports Aliro, and that the two thermostats and the temperature and humidity sensors are Matter-compatible too. The release does not mention Matter for the cameras or doorbell.
Does Apple HomeView work with Matter and Thread?
HomeView works with Matter accessories and can act as a home hub without a HomePod or Apple TV, according to Macworld's spec rundown and Apple's own wording. Whether it also acts as a Thread border router is not confirmed: Apple's HomeView release mentions Matter but not Thread, while some coverage lists Thread as supported.
If you already run Thread devices, assume your existing border routers (a hub such as those in our best smart home hub guide) are still doing the job.
Why does this matter for Home Assistant users?
HomeView does not connect to Home Assistant by itself. There is no announced integration, and Apple has not described any open API for the device. What you can do is the usual route: expose Home Assistant entities to Apple Home, then control them from the HomeView screen and Siri. Our Home Assistant HomeKit Bridge guide and Matter setup guide cover both paths.
This is our reading rather than anything Apple has confirmed, but the practical effect is that HomeView becomes a wall display for whatever you have bridged into Apple Home. It will not replace a Home Assistant dashboard tablet if you want custom cards, because the interface is Apple's. See our earlier pre-announcement coverage and the Apple smart home roadmap.
There is also a local-versus-cloud point. Apple says camera and microphone data on HomeView is handled in a separate secure area of the A18 chip, and that Siri requests use on-device processing or Private Cloud Compute. Some features, such as video descriptions and natural-language search for camera footage, need an Apple Intelligence-capable iPhone or iPad and an eligible iCloud+ plan. Home Assistant's local-first model is a different trade-off.
What are the catches?
Siri AI is in beta. Apple's footnote says Siri AI on HomeView is in beta in software version 27.2, and it is English-only at launch, including in the UK.
Subscriptions may be needed. Face, pet, package and vehicle recognition on cameras requires a supported iCloud+ subscription and compatible cameras. Apple also says each camera in the Home Collection gets 10 days of event history through iCloud+, so no separate camera subscription is needed.
Apps are limited. Apple says HomeView plays compatible third-party audio and video apps, some needing a subscription or a nearby paired iPhone. Coverage of the launch suggests there is no App Store on the device, but Apple's own release does not spell that out, so treat it as unconfirmed.
Not for the EU. Apple is not selling HomeView in the EU for now because Siri AI is not yet available in iOS there. The UK is in the first wave of countries.
Should you wait or pre-order?
If you live in an Apple Home household and want a kitchen or hallway display, £299 is a reasonable entry price, but there are no hands-on reviews yet and Siri AI is still beta. Waiting until reviews land after 13 November costs you little.
If your smart home runs mainly on Home Assistant, there is little reason to rush. A cheaper wall tablet running the Home Assistant app gives you full dashboard control, and you can add HomeView later through the bridge if you want an Apple-flavoured screen. For comparison, our HomePod mini review shows what Apple's smaller hub offers today. We will update this page once the UK reviews and the Thread details are confirmed.
