Apple only just announced on Tuesday that its first smart display, the HomeView, will arrive on November 13th, but you can already save a couple bucks on it. Right now, you can buy the display for $289.99 ($10 off) in gray and the creamy white “starlight” colorway at Amazon. Sure, it’s a small discount, but deals on new Apple devices ahead of launch are rare.
Expect a full review of the HomeView in November, but my colleague Jennifer Pattison Tuohy spent some brief time with it and likened it to an “iPhone for your home” that looks a bit like an oversized Apple Watch. It features a gorgeous seven-inch square touchscreen that can recognize up to six household members and automatically switch between personalized experiences, displaying information relevant to whoever is using it.
As you might already know, the HomeView also doubles as a smart home hub, with support for Matter and Thread. You can use it to control compatible smart home devices, view live feeds and recorded footage from HomeKit Secure Video cameras, and more. It also features a 12-megapixel FaceTime camera for video calls, and doubles as an entertainment device, letting you play music, display photos, and more.
Apple’s AI-powered Siri assistant is another big part of the experience, allowing you to ask questions and get information using personal context from your messages, calendar, and emails. That means you can ask it to find your lost keys, play a song someone texted you, pull up a recipe with step-by-step instructions and built-in timers, or help you keep track of your schedule without having to reach for your phone.