SAN FRANCISCO: Apple introduced a new home smart device on Oct 13, as the company tries to breathe fresh life into its product lineup and make inroads in artificial intelligence (AI).
At an event in New York, Apple unveiled the HomeView, a 7in tablet that will be able to recognise up to six members of a household and change its content based on who is using it. One version of the HomeView can be placed on a countertop, and another can be mounted on a wall. The device will start at US$299 (RM1,220) and be available for purchase starting Nov 13.
“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.
Apple’s announcement comes a month after John Ternus took over leadership of the company from Tim Cook. Ternus, who was previously Apple’s head of hardware engineering, inherited a company that has faced years of criticism for incrementally improving core devices like the iPhone and missing the mark on new bets like its mixed reality headset, the Vision Pro.
With last month’s debut of the iPhone Duo, which can open and close like a book, and Tuesday’s introduction of the HomeView, Apple is trying to prove it can still innovate. Although the company was not first to release a foldable smartphone or a home tablet, Apple is betting once again that it can win the market with a more polished device and a supply chain that can quickly deliver millions of a product.
The idea of a smart home – an ecosystem of Internet-connected automated appliances, like thermostats and doorbells – has long existed. The concept has also struggled to catch on. Many consumers found the setup too complicated, with different companies making different devices with different standards. Consumers also became frustrated with privacy problems and software updates that made devices obsolete.
In recent years, the technology industry has tried to jump-start the smart home with AI, hoping that the technology will make devices easier to configure and use.
With the HomeView, Apple is continuing its foray into AI. After years of sitting on the sidelines of the race to develop the technology, the consumer tech giant is preparing to compete with a device yet to be released by OpenAI.
Apple’s home tablet will spotlight the improved version of its digital assistant, Siri, which the company unveiled in June.
“Everybody has an iPhone in their pocket, so it has to be a different experience that you’re trying to sell in order to make it compelling,” said Carolina Milanesi, president of Creative Strategies, a consumer technology research firm. To win over consumers, she added, Siri has “to become useful in a family setting, not just to an individual.”
HomeView will be available in eight countries, including the United States, Britain and India. It will not be available in the European Union, where Apple said its new Siri was not yet available.
Apple released its first home device, a smart speaker called the HomePod, in 2018. The device, which was released years later than Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Home, failed to impress. Although its sound system outstripped that of its competitors, its digital assistant stumbled. Siri disappointed in doing basic tasks, like scheduling events, finding a recipe and requesting a ride with Uber or Lyft.
Apple released a smaller version of the HomePod, called the HomePod mini, in 2020, and a second generation of the HomePod in 2023. But the devices never broke through. In the first half of this year, Apple accounted for 10% of the smart speaker market, while Amazon had a nearly 50% share, according to Counterpoint Research, which tracks consumer electronics markets.
On Oct 13, Apple also updated the HomePod mini and the Apple TV, a streaming device akin to a set-top box. The new devices will have faster processors so they can run Apple’s most advanced AI models. The HomePod mini will start at US$149 (RM608), and the Apple TV will start at US$299 (RM1,220).
In June, Apple raised the prices for both devices. The HomePod mini increased from US$30 (RM122) to US$129 (RM526), and a base model of the Apple TV increased from US$70 (RM285) to US$199 (RM812). Apple has also raised prices on iPhones, iPads and Macs as the AI boom has created a global shortage in memory chips, making the component more expensive for consumer electronics.
Apple also said on Oct 13 that it had collaborated with LG, the consumer electronics and home appliances maker, and Schneider Electric to develop accessories that would work with its new tablet. Those accessories include a lock, video doorbell and thermostat. – ©2026 The New York Times Company
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
