Could Apple’s HomeView be its first smart home breakthrough?

Meta description: Apple plans to announce HomeView, a Siri-powered smart home hub with an A18 chip and display, alongside updates to Apple TV and HomePod mini.

Tags: Apple HomeView, smart home hub, Mark Gurman, A18 chip, Apple TV

Featured image: A wall-mounted smart home hub display glowing over a countertop, with abstract circuit lines and home-device icons, no text, no real people, no company logos.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple will announce HomeView, a new smart home hub, on Tuesday. The report gives a name and a launch date to a product that has been described in multiple reports over the past couple of years. It also presents HomeView as Apple's most serious bet on the smart home to date, because it follows limited traction for HomeKit and the HomePod smart speaker.

Background: Years of Smart Home Reports

The source says there have been multiple reports that Apple was working on a new smart home product over the past couple of years. It now seems the product has a name and a launch date. Apple's existing smart home context includes the HomeKit software framework and the HomePod smart speaker. The source says those efforts failed to get much traction. HomeView is described as different because it is presented as a hub with a display, a chip, and a reported Tuesday launch.

Development Process: Display, Siri, and Two Models

Gurman describes HomeView as a Siri-powered device with a display and an A18 chip. The reported purpose is to allow customers to control their other smart home devices. The hub will reportedly be available in two models: one designed for countertops and the other to be mounted on walls. That two-model plan gives the product distinct placement options inside the home. The display makes HomeView a visual interface, while the A18 chip identifies the computing component inside it. The source ties the launch to a broader smart home effort, calling it Apple's most serious bet on the smart home to date after HomeKit and HomePod did not gain much traction.

Latest Progress: Apple TV, HomePod mini, and LG Accessories

The Tuesday announcement is not expected to stop at HomeView. Gurman reports that Apple will also unveil updated versions of two other home devices: the Apple TV set-top box and the HomePod mini. Earlier this week, he said Apple plans to announce a partnership with LG to create a smart lock, a thermostat, and a doorbell. That adds connected hardware around entry control, temperature control, and doorbell functionality. The Apple TV update and HomePod mini update keep the home hardware refresh connected to the same announcement window.

What Tuesday Includes

Tuesday will show how HomeView, the updated Apple TV set-top box, the updated HomePod mini, and the planned LG smart lock, thermostat, and doorbell are presented together. The key timeline is the past couple of years of reports, the earlier this week LG partnership plan, and the Tuesday launch date for the named HomeView hub.