Apple's smart home push: HomeView, a $299 Apple TV, a new HomePod mini and its own cameras and locks. What was announced, what it costs and what to know first

Apple used its October 13 event in New York to expand its smart home lineup. It introduced HomeView, a new device built around a 7-inch display; a fourth-generation Apple TV 4K; a second-generation HomePod mini; and Apple Home Collection, a line of cameras, a video doorbell, a smart lock, thermostats and sensors designed with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric. All of them are built to work with Siri AI, the more conversational version of Apple's assistant that is still in beta.

Here is what each product does, what it costs and when it arrives, based on Apple's announcements.

Source: Apple Newsroom, October 13, 2026. Apple says select Home Collection accessories arrive in early 2027 without specifying which.

What is Apple HomeView?

HomeView is a household device that combines entertainment, calling and smart home control. It has a 7-inch display and can sit on a table or mount on a wall. It recognizes up to six household members by face and shows each one a personal home screen, according to Apple. It plays music and podcasts, makes FaceTime calls, works as an intercom, handles timers and recipes, and controls cameras, thermostats, lights, locks and blinds by touch or voice. A camera view can show up to nine feeds at once. With an iCloud+ subscription, it can recognize people, pets, packages and vehicles and listen for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

"Apple HomeView is designed to be shared by everyone in the home yet feel completely personal to each user," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing.

It runs on Apple's A18 chip. Pre-orders opened October 13 in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S., with Singapore following on October 15, and availability begins November 13. Wall-mount power accessories from Schneider Home start at $59.95, and a Power over Ethernet mount at $129.95 is due in early 2027.

The new Apple TV and HomePod mini

The fourth-generation Apple TV 4K uses the A19 chip, which Apple says has up to 50% faster CPU performance and up to twice the graphics performance of the previous model, plus an AV1 video decoder. It adds three far-field microphones for hands-free Siri, supports four-speaker surround sound with paired HomePods, and gives the Siri Remote Find My support. It costs $299 and arrives November 13. "The new Apple TV 4K is our most immersive home theater experience yet," said Bob Borchers, Apple's vice president of worldwide product marketing.

HomePod mini 2 costs $149, comes in five colors and arrives in stores October 30. It uses Apple's S10 chip, can act as a Mac's default speaker, and listens for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Siri AI arrives on it in a future free software update and will recognize up to six household members by voice.

Apple Home Collection: cameras, a lock and thermostats

The Home Collection is made with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric, set up with an iPhone and managed in the Home app. Highlights:

• Video doorbell ($249.95): two cameras, one at 2.5K facing forward and one at full HD facing down to see packages, with a chime that plays through HomeView or HomePod.
• Smart deadbolt ($349.95): unlocks automatically using Ultra Wideband for people carrying a home key on a compatible iPhone or Apple Watch, with tap-to-unlock, a PIN pad, a backup key slot and guest access through the Home app.
• Thermostats ($199.95): LG and Schneider versions with an adaptive temperature feature and, in the contiguous U.S. with a compatible utility plan, clean-energy guidance.
• Cameras: floodlight, outdoor and indoor models; the indoor camera tilts down when the first household member gets home.

All devices support Thread, and the lock, thermostats and sensors are Matter compatible, Apple says. Cameras and some features require a home hub such as HomeView, a HomePod or an Apple TV. In the U.S., Apple Stores will offer professional installation through ADT for an extra fee.

Privacy claims and subscriptions

Apple is leaning heavily on privacy. It says Home app data is end-to-end encrypted and that LG, Schneider Electric and Apple cannot read it. Camera footage is analyzed on the home hub or in Apple's Private Cloud Compute, and HomeView's camera and microphone data is processed in what Apple calls Secure Exclaves, isolated from the rest of the system. Messages and calendar details appear on HomeView only when an enrolled person is recognized and their paired iPhone or iPad is nearby and recently unlocked. A footnote notes an exception: some personal information may remain accessible under specific conditions if the paired device loses Wi-Fi.

There is no separate camera subscription. With iCloud+, event video history is stored encrypted in iCloud for 10 days; the 50GB plan supports one camera, 200GB up to five and 2TB unlimited cameras. Apple Intelligence features such as video summaries and natural-language search of footage require an eligible iCloud+ plan.

What to know before buying

• You need an iPhone. Setup requires a compatible iPhone or iPad running current software, and Siri AI's personal features depend on a paired Apple Intelligence-capable device.
• Siri AI is beta and limited. It works in English in the U.S., Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and the U.K., with Canadian French to follow.
• No EU launch. Apple says HomeView is not sold in the EU because Siri AI is unavailable in iOS there, and Siri AI on Apple TV is not initially available there either.
• Staggered shipping. HomePod mini arrives first, HomeView and Apple TV in mid-November, and most Home Collection devices in December, with some in early 2027.
• Mixed homes work. HomeView also works with other Works with Apple Home and Matter accessories, so existing smart home devices are not necessarily stranded.

Why it matters beyond Apple fans

For small businesses that rent homes or short-term units, or that install security and smart home systems, the support for Matter and Thread and the in-store ADT installation option are the details to watch, since they affect what devices can be mixed and who will be asked to install them. Guest access to the smart lock is shared through the Home app; Apple's announcement does not describe tools for managing multiple properties.

Apple is not finished for the month. MacRumors, citing Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, reported that Apple plans to unveil four more products, including new MacBook Pro, iPad mini and iMac models; Apple had not announced them as of this writing. Our coverage of Meta's Connect 2026 announcements covers the other major consumer hardware push this fall.