Apple Unveils a $299 Home Hub, a Pricier Apple TV and a New HomePod Mini

Apple on Tuesday introduced a $299 smart home display called HomeView, a new Apple TV 4K and a second-generation HomePod mini, its broadest push yet to put its devices at the center of the household. The company made the announcements through its website and press materials rather than at a live event, MacRumors noted, and opened preorders the same day.

HomeView is a touch-screen hub meant to sit on a counter or hang on a wall. It relies mainly on voice commands and uses facial recognition to tell household members apart, offering a personalized set of apps, widgets and information for up to six people. Apple is pitching it for tasks like controlling lights and locks, following recipes and setting timers in the kitchen. It goes on sale Nov. 13 in the United States and several other countries, but it will not be available in the European Union at launch, and some of its newer artificial intelligence features require an iPhone or iPad.

The fourth-generation Apple TV 4K also costs $299, a higher price than the model it replaces. It runs on Apple’s A19 chip, adds Wi-Fi 7 and more storage, and includes built-in microphones so owners can talk to Siri without picking up the remote. It also ships Nov. 13.

The HomePod mini, the company’s smallest smart speaker, is also being refreshed. The new version costs $149, uses a faster chip, comes in new colors and adds a lighted top that Apple calls Sound Glow. It goes on sale Oct. 30. Apple said the speaker will not support its upgraded Siri at launch and that the feature will come in a later software update, without giving a date.

Apple also announced a line of home accessories, including cameras, a smart lock, thermostats and video doorbells, built with outside manufacturers to work with the new hub.

The lineup is Apple’s answer to Amazon and Google, which have sold smart displays for years. Apple’s argument is that a hub built around privacy and its existing devices can win over households that have held back. The more cautious reading is that its most-advertised feature, a more capable Siri, is arriving unevenly: available on some products, delayed on others and dependent on a phone for parts of the experience. Higher prices for the Apple TV also come as many households are watching their budgets closely.

Reviews of the new devices are expected closer to their release dates.