Apple’s HomeView costs $299 / £299 — but that doesn't unlock all of its best features

Apple’s new AI-powered home hub, the HomeView , is officially shipping on November 13.

Featuring a 7-inch touchscreen, and coming in wall-mounted or tabletop versions, the new must-have Apple device seems a snip at just $299 / £299 / AU$449) — but that price doesn't reflect the true cost of accessing its best features.

One of the things that really makes the HomeView unique is that it recognizes your face, then adapts its display so you see your personal content in apps like Messages, FaceTime , Calendar, Reminders, and Find My.

It’s a great feature, because having to keep logging in manually all the time would be a real time-consuming turn-off for a device that’s used by all the family.

But a note on the Apple newsrooms page about HomeView says “Apple HomeView setup and multiuser support require a compatible iPhone or iPad running the latest software.” It goes on to say that “Personal Context requests require a paired Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone or iPad running the latest software version with Siri AI turned on and set to a supported language.” (Image credit: Apple) You need a modern iPhone or iPad Apple’s wording features two overlapping statements.

A compatible iPhone or iPad is required to set up the HomeView, but one that runs Apple Intelligence is required for Personal Context requests.

In practical terms, you need an iPhone 15 Pro, any iPhone 16 or newer model, an A17 Pro iPad mini, or an M1-or-newer iPad.

The standard iPhone 15 does not qualify.

The Apple HomeView isn’t useless without those devices — it can still answer general-knowledge questions, control compatible smart-home products, and offer improved music discovery.

However, it won’t be able to process requests involving personal information, such as finding details in Messages or Calendar and taking actions across apps, which require a modern iPhone or iPad.

Siri AI must be enabled, and the HomeView and paired device must use a supported language.

But there is one even narrower requirement: customizing Siri’s expressiveness and speaking speed requires an iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone Air, iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone Duo, or an M4-or-newer iPad with at least 12GB RAM.

Obviously, that's a small voice-personalization feature, not the threshold for ordinary Personal Context requests, but it’s still worth noting. @techradar ♬ original sound - TechRadar The complete Apple AI home costs considerably more When we look into the HomeView’s smart-home features, which are part of Apple’s wider smart-home ecosystem, things get even more complicated.