Apple’s Home Strategy Comes into View

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TEC365: Apple’s pitch on October 13 was simple: put one screen on the kitchen counter that handles the timer, the recipe, the doorbell and the family calls, and knows who’s standing in front of it. That screen is Apple HomeView, a $299 seven-inch smart display on a speaker base or mounted on the wall, and it arrived alongside a second-generation HomePod mini, a new Apple TV 4K and the Apple Home Collection of LG and Schneider Electric devices.

Dom Bettinelli and Joanne Mercier start with what they already own, from HomePods and a retired Echo Show to smart switches and a doorbell camera bridged into Apple Home, then go product by product. HomeView recognizes up to six people and gives each a personal home screen, which leaves Dom’s seven-person household one short and raises the question of guests, grandparents and kids without iPhones. Notes isn’t on the device, third-party app support is vague, and both hosts want their phone’s apps on it the way CarPlay works in the car. They see real value in a kitchen FaceTime station for grandparents, a photo frame and a nine-camera view for an office or a nursing home.

The Apple TV 4K gets a far-field microphone array, Siri AI and a remote you can find in the couch cushions, but at $299 neither host is buying, especially after the last model’s price jump in June. The HomePod mini 2 goes to $149 with the S10 chip, smoke and carbon monoxide alarm detection, four-speaker surround and a pulsing light called Sound Glow, and Joanne still calls it the speaker for every room. The Apple Home Collection costs more than gear that already works with Apple Home, but every device uses Thread, the locks work without internet, and setup takes a tap of the phone.

Then come the bigger questions. What does Siri AI actually do on these devices, and who gets the personal features? How far can Apple’s privacy promises be trusted next to Amazon and Google? Does a device that hands each family member a private screen serve the household, or quietly turn the most shared room in the house into six separate ones? And borrowing Jason Snell’s question at Six Colors, is Apple signing a short-term lease on the home or finally taking out a mortgage?

In the Picks of the Week, Joanne recommends Real Mah Jongg for learning and playing mahjong online with friends far away, and Dom recommends the Logitech MX Master 4 mouse.

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Disclaimer: Hosts, panelists, and guests may have a financial interest in the companies discussed through investments or other means. Their opinions and recommendations are not affected and do not present a conflict of interest. We offer this statement in the interest of full disclosure.

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