Apple unveiled HomeView on Oct. 13, a $299 screen meant to show off Siri AI in the kitchen1. Pre-orders opened the same day, and the device ships Nov. 13 to eight countries2. The European Union misses that list. Apple says Siri AI still awaits a release on iOS there3. The European Commission says that choice belongs to Apple alone4. A buyer weighing HomeView now has to weigh that argument too.
A Screen Built to Show Off Siri AI
HomeView is a 7-inch tabletop screen on a small speaker base. A wall-mounted version shares the same display25. Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, described the pitch. "It recognizes your face to shift from a household screen to your own experience, fills the room with incredible sound, keeps you connected to the people who matter most with FaceTime, and makes it easy to control your smart home," Joswiak said1.
That face recognition unlocks what Apple calls personal context. Point your face at the screen, and HomeView pulls your calendar, your messages and your music into view15. The feature needs an iPhone 15 Pro or newer nearby, unlocked and signed into the same Apple account5. Keep that phone out of range, and HomeView sticks to general questions and music5.
Voice commands chain only inside one category of device. Ask HomeView to dim two lamps at once, and it manages that fine5. Tell it to lock the front door and drop the thermostat in the same breath, and it treats those as two separate requests5. Matthew Costello, Apple's vice president of hardware engineering, framed the accessory side of that work. "Working closely with industry leaders LG Electronics and Schneider Electric, we designed every accessory to work seamlessly with Apple Home, so managing your home is simple, reliable, and private," Costello said2. HomeView backs that claim with its chip. Camera and microphone feeds run through Secure Exclaves on its own A18 processor, Implicator.ai reported, and that processing stays on the device itself5.
Every outlet covering HomeView so far has watched Apple's own demo, run on Apple's own hardware, in Apple's own room5. Independent reviewers are still waiting for a unit bought off a store shelf5. The face recognition and the personal context pulls remain claims the company has shown, pending that first retail test. A buyer judging how well HomeView performs is, for now, judging Apple's demo.
What HomeView Costs, and What It Costs to Fix
Fixing a cracked HomeView costs $279, within $20 of buying one at $299
Apple's listed U.S. prices for HomeView, dollars, as of Oct. 14, 2026
The first column is what a buyer pays to own HomeView, and the second is what Apple charges to repair a cracked screen out of warranty.
Sources: CNBC (via 10bmnews.com) [1]; Glitchwire [2]; Implicator.ai [5]. Chart by The AILately.com Desk.
The numbers behind this chart
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| To buy | $299 |
| To repair | $279 |
Buyers pay $299 for the tabletop model2. Color options include silver, starlight, rose pink and space gray2. The wall-mounted version costs the same $299, plus a mount that starts at $59.952. Apple's new camera, thermostat and lock line is called the Home Collection. Prices there range from $39.95 to $399.952. It reaches only the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom in December2. HomeView itself reaches five more markets at launch: Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore and South Africa2.
Breaking the screen costs nearly as much as buying the device. Apple charges $279 to repair HomeView out of warranty, within $20 of the retail price5. A buyer who drops it once has effectively bought two.
Who Kept It Out of Europe
Apple's statement is direct. "Apple HomeView is not available for sale in the European Union, as Siri AI is currently unavailable in iOS in the EU," the company said3. The reason sits inside the Digital Markets Act, a 2024 EU law that forces large platforms to open their software to rivals. Apple treats iOS as a gatekeeper platform under that law3. macOS and visionOS escape that same restriction3. Siri AI already runs on Apple's computers and headsets inside the EU3.
Brussels reads the standoff differently. Thomas Regnier, a European Commission spokesperson, put the responsibility back on Apple. "The decision not to launch Siri AI in the E.U. is Apple's and Apple's alone," Regnier said4. Regnier added a detail. Apple sought an 18-month exemption from the law's interoperability rules, skipping a technical fix4. The Commission turned that request down4.
The dispute predates HomeView by a year. Apple's lawyers have told a European court the Digital Markets Act imposes burdens the company calls disproportionate, in filings separate from this launch4. HomeView marks the first time that fight has cost Europe a piece of hardware, past a run of lost software features2.
A Rival Display Already Sells in Europe
HomeView costs $50 more than the Nest Hub Max, which already runs Gemini across the EU
Full retail price of each smart display, dollars, as of Oct. 14, 2026
Each bar is one smart display's price; the magenta bar is HomeView, a device Apple sells outside the European Union only, and the gray bar is the Nest Hub Max, which already runs Google's Gemini for Home there.
HomeView's price is Apple's U.S. listing; the Nest Hub Max figure comes from a retailer review, separate from Google's own storefront.
Sources: CNBC (via 10bmnews.com) [1]; Glitchwire [2]; Smart Home Explorer [6]. Chart by The AILately.com Desk.
The numbers behind this chart
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Google Nest Hub Max | $249 |
| Apple HomeView | $299 |
Google already sells a rival screen inside the bloc. The Nest Hub Max costs $249, fifty dollars under HomeView, and runs Google's Gemini for Home assistant on a dedicated chip6. Basic Gemini features run free, and a Google Home Premium plan at $8 a month unlocks the rest, including live conversation mode6.
Google rolled Gemini for Home into ten European Union countries starting April 137. The list runs from Austria and Belgium through Spain and Sweden, with France and Italy in between7. Jon Mundy covered the expansion for Tech Advisor and credited it to the pace of Google's own rollout7. A shopper in Paris can buy a Nest Hub Max and get Gemini today. That same shopper still waits for a HomeView to go on sale.
That gap sets up a fair comparison. Both screens read a face, play music and run a smart home from one countertop or wall. One already works across the European Union. The other works only where Apple has already settled its dispute with Brussels.
What Each Side Needs
Apple's account needs the Digital Markets Act to stand as the genuine obstacle behind the decision. Regnier's account needs Apple's request for an exemption to prove the company held a path forward and skipped it4. Jennifer Kent, principal analyst at Parks Associates, reads Apple's caution as pattern, past stall tactics. "Apple always waits for an ecosystem to develop first until they are positive they can provide a stellar user experience," Kent said2. Kent also credited the privacy design behind that caution. "They are going above and beyond what a lot of other companies do when it comes to privacy and security protections," Kent said1.
Readers can test both claims against what happens next. A settlement that ships HomeView to the EU within months would favor Regnier's reading. The standoff could outlast that 18-month ask, with HomeView still absent from EU shelves4. That outcome would favor Apple's account of a rule it keeps struggling to clear4.
The stakes reach past any single buyer. A professional running a home office in Berlin or Madrid still waits on a legal path to Apple's newest assistant hardware this year23. That professional's counterpart in London or Toronto can order one today2. This split follows the same line the Digital Markets Act already draws across Apple's other EU software delays4.
By the numbers
- $299: HomeView's price in either the tabletop or wall-mounted form12.
- $279: Apple's charge to repair a cracked HomeView screen out of warranty5.
- Eight: countries getting HomeView on Nov. 13, with the European Union left off that list2.
- $249: Google's price for the Nest Hub Max, on sale across the European Union6.
- $8 a month: the Google Home Premium charge that unlocks Gemini's live conversation mode6.
- 18 months: the exemption from EU interoperability rules Apple asked for, Regnier said4.
- Three: countries getting Apple's new Home Collection accessories in December, against eight for HomeView2.
What to watch
- A settlement between Apple and the European Commission that lets Siri AI run on iOS inside the bloc34.
- The first account from a buyer who owns a retail HomeView, since every claim so far traces to Apple's own demo5.
- Gemini for Home's reach into the remaining EU countries, which would widen Google's lead over a rival still absent there7.
Sources
- CNBC, "Apple releases HomeView smart home hub with screen as showcase for Siri AI," CNBC (via 10bmnews.com), Oct. 13, 2026, https://10bmnews.com/apple-releases-homeview-smart-home-hub-with-screen-as-showcase-for-siri-ai/
- Glitchwire Tech Desk, "Apple HomeView Ships November 13 at $299. The EU Won't Get One.," Glitchwire, Oct. 13, 2026, https://glitchwire.com/news/apple-homeview-ships-november-13-at-299-the-eu-wont-get-one/
- Ryan Christoffel, "HomeView isn't launching in the EU, here's why," 9to5Mac, Oct. 13, 2026, https://9to5mac.com/2026/10/13/homeview-isnt-launching-in-the-eu-heres-why/
- Jakob Steinschaden, "Apple's HomeView Smart Display Won't Come to the E.U.," Trending Topics, Oct. 13, 2026, https://www.trendingtopics.eu/apple-homeview-home-collection-eu-en/
- Marcus Schuler, "Apple Launches $299 HomeView Smart Display With Siri AI," Implicator.ai, Oct. 14, 2026, https://implicator.ai/apple-launches-299-homeview-its-first-smart-display-built-around-siri-ai
- Nicholas Miles, "Google Nest Hub Max (Gemini) Review," Smart Home Explorer, April 2026, https://www.smarthomeexplorer.com/reviews/automation/google-nest-hub-max-gemini
- Jon Mundy, "Gemini for Google Home Launches in 16 New Countries," Tech Advisor, April 13, 2026, https://www.techadvisor.com/article/3110206/gemini-for-google-home-launches-in-16-new-countries.html