Apple launches a $299 HomeView smart display and raises prices on Apple TV and HomePod mini

Apple Inc. launched HomeView, a $299 smart display built to showcase its rebuilt Siri, and raised prices on its new Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini.

What Apple put on sale

Apple Inc. on Tuesday introduced HomeView, a $299 smart display it is positioning as the hub of the connected home. It also priced the new fourth-generation Apple TV 4K at $299 and HomePod mini 2 at $149, both above the models they replace. Apple also unveiled Apple Home Collection, a line of cameras, a video doorbell, thermostats and a smart lock built with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric.

Pre-orders for HomeView opened Tuesday in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India, with deliveries starting Nov. 13, according to Apple's announcement. The device pairs a 7-inch display with a speaker base; a wall-mounted version costs the same $299 before a separate mount from Schneider Home, which starts at $59.95. It runs on Apple's A18 chip, can recognize up to six people by face and can show as many as nine home-camera feeds at once.

Built to sell the new Siri

The hardware is largely a vehicle for Siri AI, the rebuilt assistant Apple calls "an entirely new version of Siri." On HomeView it answers general questions for anyone in the room. Personal content such as Messages and Calendar appears only when an enrolled user is recognized by face and that person's paired iPhone or iPad is present and has been recently unlocked, Apple said. Conversations started on the display carry over to the user's other Apple devices.

That dependence has a cost in Europe. HomeView is not for sale in the European Union because Siri AI is not available in iOS there, Apple said, adding that it is "working constructively with the EU in an attempt to find a path forward." Siri AI on HomeView works only in English at launch.

CNBC described HomeView as Chief Executive John Ternus's first launch outside the iPhone since he took the job, and noted that Tuesday's event was the second under him.

The quieter price increases

The fourth-generation Apple TV 4K costs $299 and ships Nov. 13. MacRumors reported that it comes in a single 128GB configuration, that the previous model was most recently priced at $199 and $249 after an earlier increase, and that the Apple TV 4K's starting price has gone from $129 to $299 this year. HomePod mini 2 costs $149, $20 more than the $129 its predecessor sold for on Apple's store, Mac Observer reported. It ships Oct. 30, but Siri AI reaches it only in a later software update.

Apple's releases do not explain the new prices. CNBC noted that the broader consumer-electronics industry has been dealing with price increases and weaker demand related to memory and storage shortages, and that the earlier Apple TV increase this year came after Tim Cook said Apple's memory costs were unsustainable.

Home Collection accessories start arriving in December, with some in early 2027. U.S. starting prices include $249.95 for an LG video doorbell, $349.95 for an LG smart deadbolt and $199.95 for thermostats from either partner.

What it means for Apple

The home products are reported in Apple's wearables, home and accessories category, which had net sales of $7.88 billion in the quarter ended June 27, up 6% from a year earlier and about 7% of Apple's $109.42 billion in total net sales, according to its quarterly filing. Apple said that growth came from accessories and wearables. Beyond that sales line, the home push is a way to keep customers inside Apple's ecosystem.

"Apple always waits for an ecosystem to develop first until they are positive they can provide a stellar user experience," Jennifer Kent, principal analyst at Parks Associates, a connected-home research firm, said in CNBC's launch coverage.

The launch did little for the stock by the close. Apple shares touched $348.15 during Tuesday's session, a 52-week high, before giving back most of the move to close at $341.27, up 0.09%, for a market value of about $4.98 trillion, according to CNBC quote data. The stock slipped to $340.35 in after-hours trading as of 7:59 p.m. ET.