Apple Bundles HomeView With Cameras and a Thermostat in Smart-Home Push
Apple is pitching its new smart-home lineup as a ready-made setup, rather than a standalone display, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says. The $299 HomeView combines a HomePod with a screen for personalized household information and controls, alongside a thermostat and cameras that Apple is also introducing. Gurman says the package could make it easier for customers to assemble an Apple-powered home without piecing together products from different sellers.
Apple’s pitch is a complete smart-home setup, not just a screen
Mark Gurman describes Apple’s new HomeView as part of a broader effort to make an Apple smart-home experience easier to assemble. Alongside the display, Apple announced a thermostat and several cameras: a floodlight camera, an indoor camera and an outdoor camera. Gurman calls the lineup a “smart home starter kit.” His point is that customers who want an Apple setup can now find its main pieces together, rather than sourcing a camera and thermostat from different places and trying to work out what is compatible.
That packaging addresses a problem Gurman says buyers faced before: smart-home products were scattered across different sellers, and compatibility was not always clear. Apple’s lineup gives the company a place to offer more of those products together. The display matters in that proposition because it can put household controls on a screen, but it is one component of the larger lineup, not the whole pitch.
Apple’s displayed HomeView interface included a thermostat reading of 68 degrees, alongside controls labeled Intercom, Door Lock and Lights. The screen suggests how the device could provide access to household controls. Apple’s product images also showed a smart lock, keypad, doorbell, indoor camera and thermostat. The images establish that Apple presented these products together; Gurman’s account of the starter kit is that customers seeking an Apple smart home can now get more of its pieces in one place.
HomeView combines a shared screen with personal views
At $299, HomeView is, in Gurman’s description, essentially a HomePod with a built-in display, running new HomeView software. The screen is designed to show different information to different people in the same household. Gurman says as many as six people can walk up to it and see a customized view: he might see his music, messages and applications, while his wife might see calendar appointments, clock faces, notes and reminders.
If I walk up to it, I'll see my music, my messages, my applications. If my wife walks up to it, she'll keep, she'll see her calendar appointments, she'll see her clock faces, she'll see her notes, calendars and reminders.
That makes the display more than a fixed household dashboard. Its contents can be personal even though the device is shared. Apple’s interface image showed app icons, widgets and clock faces; other product images showed a thermostat screen and a group of displays with a clock, video call, thermostat and media player. Gurman also says HomeView can show the weather and support quick FaceTime calls. Together, those examples show a screen intended for both personal information and possible access to home controls.
The controls shown on screen do not, by themselves, establish how HomeView connects to every product in Apple’s announced lineup. Gurman describes the device as a way to control a thermostat and lights, and Apple’s image showed controls for a door lock. The source presents these as uses for a household display, rather than detailing compatibility across every newly announced device.
Two mounting options put the display in different roles
HomeView comes in tabletop and wall-mounted versions, both priced at $299, Ed Ludlow says. He asks whether the tabletop version uses USB-C, but Gurman does not answer that question. Gurman’s explanation for the two form factors is that people may want to use the device in different ways.
A tabletop unit can sit where people use it for personal information, media or calls. On a wall, it can serve more like a fixed control panel. Gurman notes that some people mount Amazon’s Echo Show on a wall, and says a HomeView could be used to control a thermostat and lights, check the weather or make quick FaceTime calls. He compares that possible role to an ADT security panel, which someone might use instead of or alongside a HomeView.
Apple’s images showed the device on a counter displaying home controls, as well as several units lined up in different colors. Gurman points to the tabletop model’s metal base, perforated metal detailing and speaker system, calling the design “pretty nifty.” He expects it to be popular for the holiday season. Ed says the products are coming in December.
The announced lineup’s broader proposition is that customers looking for an Apple smart-home setup can get more of its pieces together. HomeView gives that effort a display that can show personalized information and, in the uses Gurman describes, offer access to household controls.