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Apple's 'Welcome Home' Event: Siri AI Takes Over Your Living Room

Apple's 'Welcome Home' Event: Siri AI Takes Over Your Living Room

Apple held a launch event titled "Welcome Home" on Tuesday, unveiling four major products that mark its official entry into the smart home market—a space long dominated by Amazon and Google. The centerpiece? A completely revamped Siri AI, built on Apple Foundation Models, which now powers deeper personalization and more natural conversation across the entire home ecosystem.

Here's what Apple announced.

1. Apple HomeView Smart Display

The star of the show is the HomeView, Apple's first smart display. It features a 7-inch Liquid Retina screen mounted on an arched speaker base, connected via a stainless steel hinge that lets you adjust the tilt.

What makes it smart? Facial recognition for up to six users. The display automatically serves up personalized home screens, widgets, and private apps like Messages and Calendar—but only when your paired iPhone or iPad is nearby and unlocked. Shared albums and music remain open to all visitors.

Priced at $299, the HomeView comes in silver, starlight white, rose pink, and space gray, with a wall-mounting version at the same price. Pre-orders are open in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, India, and New Zealand, with a November 13 release (Singapore follows on October 15). Due to EU iOS policies on Siri AI, it's not currently available in the EU.

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2. Second-Generation HomePod mini

After three years, the HomePod mini finally gets an update. It keeps the spherical design but adds the S10 chip, enabling computational audio that adjusts dynamic range and volume in real time. Four minis can pair with the new Apple TV 4K for a four-channel surround system that auto-calibrates (speakers must be used in pairs).

It doubles as a Mac speaker and home hub, and it can recognize smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and announce visitors via face recognition. At $149, it comes in pink, green, blue, white, and midnight black, shipping October 30. Note: Siri AI support will arrive via a future update.

3. Fourth-Generation Apple TV 4K

The new Apple TV 4K integrates Siri AI with a full-screen TV interface. Under the hood, the A19 chip boosts CPU performance by up to 50% and doubles GPU performance, plus a dedicated AV1 decoder. The remote adds a "Precise Search" feature for Find.

Three far-field microphones let you wake Siri without the remote, and it handles complex context-based follow-up questions. Query results appear in small windows without blocking playback. Priced at $299 (or $49.83/month), pre-orders are open, with a November 13 release.

4. Apple Home Collection Smart Hardware

Apple teamed up with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric for a series of smart devices with touch-and-go connectivity and native Home app management.

  • LG Smart Security Camera: Wired video doorbell ($249.95), floodlight camera ($399.95), outdoor camera accessories ($299.95), and indoor camera ($199.95). Supports up to 2.5K recording, person and pet recognition, and free 10-day historical recordings via iCloud+.
  • LG Smart Door Lock: $349.95, with ultra-wideband (UWB) tech for auto-unlock as you approach, and offline local use.
  • Smart Thermostats and Sensors: Co-developed with LG and Schneider Electric, featuring adaptive temperature adjustment.

This series rolls out starting in December, and Apple retail stores in the US will offer ADT professional installation services.

Key Points

  • Apple's "Welcome Home" event introduces four products: HomeView smart display, second-gen HomePod mini, fourth-gen Apple TV 4K, and the Home Collection smart hardware series.
  • Siri AI, built on Apple Foundation Models, is the core theme, enabling deeper personalization and natural conversation.
  • HomeView starts at $299; HomePod mini at $149; Apple TV 4K at $299.
  • EU availability is delayed due to iOS policies on Siri AI.
  • Smart home accessories from LG and Schneider Electric launch in December.