Apple 'Welcome home' event RECAP — HomeView, Apple TV 4K, HomePod mini 2 unveiled — all the news, prices and release dates

Welcome to our coverage of today's Apple event

Hello and welcome to today's live blog covering Apple's October 2026 hardware event. While the iPhone event in September is a fixture of the tech release calendar, an October event is less certain. Today, Apple is believed to be taking a giant step towards cementing its smart home ambitions.

We're likely to see new products, as well as hear about some interesting partnerships in the smart home space that could see Apple mount a serious challenge towards the likes of Amazon and Google. Stay tuned!

What I'm expecting (and what I'm not)

There's been some pretty solid rumors and leaks that give us a good idea of what to expect today. And, unfortunately, it doesn't look like we'll be seeing any new MacBooks or iPads today. Those are usually a staple of October events, but today Apple is going to focus on the smart home.

It's traditionally an area where the company has played on the periphery — I love my OG HomePod but Apple's smart speakers have been outstripped by rivals from Google and Amazon. So, I'm expecting three or four concrete things from today's event:

• A new screen-based smart home hub that's likely to be called the Apple HomeView
• A new Apple TV 4K device.
• A new HomePod or HomePod mini — most likely the latter.
• An outline of third-party HomeKit devices engineered to work with HomeView and Siri AI to create a trusted ecosystem.

The smart home industry is lucrative, but fragmented — Apple could change that

I understand why Apple wants to make a splash in the smart home world. According to a recent report, the global smart home products market was valued at $169 billion in 2025 and is predicted to grow to $385 billion by 2035.

The problem is that kitting out your home to be fully automated involves a complex web of products, ecosystems and processes. Amazon's Alexa and Google's Nest platforms are established, but manufacturers like LG, Samsung and Sony are also in the mix. The open-source connectivity standard Matter has helped things somewhat, but it's yet another system consumers have to be able to idenfity.

Apple will reportedly use today's event to lay out the "Apple Home Collection" that will be effectively a fully-enclosed smart home starter kit that will appeal to the billions of iPhone users out there.

A partnership to keep the price down

Building out a fully-featured smart home doesn't come cheap. Rumors claim Apple's new HomeView could cost around $350 — quite a bit more than the likes of the $249 Echo Show from Amazon.

Apple has never been shy about aggressive pricing, but it won't be shouldering all the cost. A recent report from Bloomberg says that an "unusual" partnership with LG and Schneider Electric SE means Apple will be able to offer a compatible smart doorbell, deadbolt lock, and thermostat as well as indoor and outdoor security cameras at a much lower cost than if it had developed them in-house.

"By letting LG do much of the heavy lifting, Apple can offer a more affordable lineup without sacrificing control over the experience," the report claims.

Would you buy a smart home hub from Apple?

If Apple's rumored HomeView product does appear today, would you consider buying one? If you're a Tom's Guide reader, then you've probably already experimented with some smart home devices — would you be interested in going all-in on Apple? Let me know in the poll below.

Apple TV 4K could get a long-overdue update

While most of today's announcements will revolve around the smart home, Apple is also tipped to be refreshing the Apple TV 4K set-top box. This will be the first update to the device since 2022 and could bring some welcome upgrades.

Firstly, the new Apple TV is believed to include built-in microphones for using Siri naturally, rather than having to speak to the remote. And secondly, the remote itself will now feature a speaker so users can locate it with an audio chime. Which should be perfect if you're continuously losing it between the couch cushions.

I'm hoping for a new HomePod mini — it's been years!

Can you remember when the HomePod mini was released? It was 2020. That's right, it's been over half a decade since Apple's littlest smart speaker got an update. Apple looks set to put that right today though, with rumors claiming the long-overdue HomePod mini 2 will make an appearance.

Sadly, what's actually changing may not be all that much. Early leaks suggest the speaker will get a jump to the Apple Watch Series 10's S10 processor and some new colors. That's...not a lot, but the bump in power will mean it should be powerful enough to support Apple Intelligence and Siri AI.

Apple's rumored HomeView can be either free-standing or wall-mounted

A lot of leaks and renders of the Apple HomeView have revolved around it being an iPad stuck on a HomePod. But if you're not necessarily looking for another device to sit on your countertop, there could be an alternative option.

According to Mark Gurman's Bloomberg report, the Apple HomeView will also be available as a wall-mounted display. While the countertop version will come in four different colors (space gray, silver, starlight and pink), the wall-mounted version will only be limited to space gray and silver.

Apple HomeView key specs

The Apple HomeView is expected to be announced today, and here's the key specs and features according to recent Bloomberg reports.

• A18 chip
• 6-inch touchscreen
• Countertop model with metal speaker base
• Wall-mounted version with flat, square base
• Siri AI voice control
• Will work with LG devices, including smart doorbell, deadbolt lock, thermostat and security cameras
• Mid-November release date

Apple + LG

While much of today's news features Apple in the headline, remember that LG is expected to play a significant role. Several products, including a doorbell, hands-free smart lock, thermostat and more, are likely to be shown off.

However, according to a Bloomberg report, these LG and Apple devices aren't expected to launch for another couple of months, so we'll likely get a little taste of what the two companies are up to, but we won't be able to buy them just yet.

Apple HomeView is official — upgraded Apple TV and HomePod mini also announced

Apple has confirmed a brand new product this morning: the Apple HomeView alongside a newly-upgraded Apple TV and the Apple HomePod mini 2. The HomeView is positioned as the company’s smart home hub and a rival to the likes of Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Nest devices.

Apple has confirmed it is working directly with accessory manufacturers, including LG, to create a range of devices that will simplify the process of building a connected home. These include security cameras, a video doorbell, smart lock, thermostats and more.

HomeView will be priced at $299 and pre-orders start from today, October 13, with the product shipping on November 13.

The new Apple TV 4K will also cost $299 with pre-orders also starting today and the shipping date is also November 13.

The HomePod mini 2 will go on sale on October 30 for $149, but can also be pre-ordered from Apple today.

You can read more about each product below:

• I saw Apple's HomeView early — 7 things you need to know about the new smart home display
• Apple's new Home Collection includes a smart lock that opens when you walk up — no tapping required
• Apple's new TV 4K finally lets you find your lost remote — but that's not the biggest upgrade

Apple HomeView — the details you need to know

Apple has unveiled its second brand new product in as many months and it's fair to say we've been waiting a long time for Apple's answer to the Echo Show and Nest Hub. Many of the pre-reveal rumors were true, the Apple HomeView is fronted by a 7-inch Liquid Retina display with True Tone and ambient light adjustments from 500 nits to 0.3 nits.

It comes either as a standalone countertop unit in four different colors (silver, starlight, rose pink and space gray) or as a wall-mounted option that could be even more convenient.

HomeView will recognize up to six different household members using facial recognition and present personalized home screens, widgets and information accordingly.

Apple HomeView — how does it work?

Apple's HomeView will be able to pull and display personal information for household members from any Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones that are at home and connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

Interaction is handled via Siri AI that will use personal context to find things like recipes sent through messages or email, answer more complex questions and help with calendar tasks.

There's also a 12MP Center Stage camera and four-mic array so you can use HomeView for FaceTime calls. While there's no built-in App Store, you will be able to find a few third-party media apps supported via the CarPlay app framework.

Finally, there will be a built-in Safari browser with keyboard access, plus several first-party Apple apps including News, Intercom, Music, Podcasts and smart home controls.

'Shared by everyone in the home'

The fact you can have six different household members is pretty cool if you're trying to juggle multiple schedules and commitments. You can, for example, take a glance at your personal Home Screen to see, presumably, your own Calendar commitments and to-do list. Your spouse, however, will get to see theirs when they approach the screen without having to manually change anything.

Apple says that personal content stays private from others, while shared photo albums and music can be easily enjoyed by everyone in a household — including guests.

“Apple HomeView is designed to be shared by everyone in the home yet feel completely personal to each user,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, in the accompanying press release for the product.

“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. And it’s powered by Apple Intelligence with Siri AI at its core, drawing on personal context from your iPhone to help you find what you need and get more done, all while keeping everyone’s information private and secure.”

Apple Home Collection could be the key that unlocks HomeView

While there's undoubtedly going to be a lot of interest in the Apple HomeView as a standalone smart home gadget, where it really could start to sing is when it's backed up by the Apple Home Collection.

This is a series of hardware accessories co-developed with Apple built specifically around Apple Home integration. LG and Schneider Electric are the first two vendors on board, but there could be more in the future. According to Apple, these products will begin arriving in December.

My guess is what holds a lot of people back from setting up a smart home is balancing different products on different platforms. If Apple can guarantee these devices will be simple to set up and operate from HomeView, it could pull over a lot of iPhone users who may have dabbled with Alexa speakers or Nest cameras.

Here's the full list of what's coming:

My colleague Kate has taken a look at some of these devices at Apple's "Welcome home" event in New York today and says: "To me, the biggest selling point of the Apple Home Collection is how easily they're designed to work together. Simply bring your iPhone near a device, follow a few prompts and add it directly to the Home app. There are no separate manufacturer apps or accounts required."

The view from New York

Apple's "Welcome home" event isn't a traditional livestreamed event like the iPhone announcement last month. Instead, it's an invite-only media showcase on today's new products. My colleague Kate is in attendance for Tom's Guide and snapped this delightful picture of the Apple logo created from different colors of thread.

Which product are you most likely to buy?

We'll dig into more about each of the new products announced today in a second, but I'm curious to hear which of today's announcements you're most interested in. Of the three new products unveiled at Apple's "Welcome home" event today, which are you most likely to buy?

Hands-on with Apple HomeView

We've been able to get some early hands-on time with the Apple HomeView at the "Welcome home" event in New York today. My colleague Kate was able to scroll through the UI (check out that Liquid Glass effect on the corners) and fire up the Home app to check the view from some security cameras, as well as see what other smart devices were connected.

The whole thing seems smooth and intuitive and will almost certainly be extremely familiar to anyone who's used Apple CarPlay. Check out the TikTok video above to see it in action.

Apple's product launch video shows HomeView in action

Welcome Apple HomeView: Designed for life at home. - YouTube

Watch On

Apple has updated its YouTube channel with some stylish videos of each of the products revealed today.

Here's the one for HomeView showing how different members of a household can each interact with the smart hub. What do you think? Let me know your thoughts in the comments box below.

Free-standing or wall-mounted?

Image 1 of 5

Here are a few more pictures from our hands-on time with the Apple HomeView at today's event in New York. If you were going to pick one of these up for your home, would you opt for the free-standing version or what you want to wall mount it to save countertop space?

Apple TV 4K doubles its home theater potential

The new Apple TV 4K (2026) benefits from a few key upgrades, but one that I think is worth calling out is the fact you can now pair it with up to four compatible HomePod speakers. The previous generation capped out at two.

Now, you'll need to have the latest generation of HomePod to take advantage (my ageing Gen 1 speaker may finally need to make way for a new one), but in our "Welcome home" demo, my colleague Kate saw it in action. With two HomePod (2nd Gen) speakers sat on either side of the TV screen and two HomePod mini 2 speakers acting as rears, the system automatically calibrated for home theater sound.

Once you add up the numbers, you're looking at around $1,300 to get started. That may seem steep, but it's actually less than you might spend on a fully-featured Sonos surround sound system.

The new Apple TV 4K: The ultimate cinematic experience. - YouTube

Watch On

Price rises for Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini 2

Fans of Apple's smart home products will be pleased to see updates to the Apple TV and HomePod mini today — both now feature Apple Intelligence and support for Siri Ai. Unfortunately, both have also seen price rises to go along with the new features.

The Apple TV 4K (2026) will now cost $299 or $49.83 per month for six months. That's a $100 increase on the previous generation. And it's only that low because Apple raised the price on the 2022 Apple TV up from $129 back in June. So, really, it's more like a $170 increase.

Meanwhile, the HomePod mini 2 comes in at $149 — a $50 bump in price over the original HomePod mini that launched for $99 six years ago.

The new HomePod mini 2: Rich, room-filling sound in a compact design. - YouTube

Watch On

Today's $300 Apple TV upgrade is taking a beating on Reddit

I've mentioned the price rises for the Apple TV 4K and the HomePod mini already, and it looks like the former is already drawing some heavy criticism. On the r/apple subreddit, users are pointing out that the Apple TV tops out at 4K 60fps and citing the lack of additional features like audio pass-through.

"That's an extremely hard pass from me," wrote user ThanosSnapsSlimJims. "120hz in 2026 should be the minimum for devices, as should audio passthrough."

While a 60Hz limit may not matter for TV and movies, other users point out that since the iPhone can shoot at 4K120fps, it would make sense for Apple's set-top box to be able to display that content.

"So let me get this straight, they doubled the price, there is no audio pass through, still 60hz, and there is now a microphone," wrote user AlternisBot. "Why would anyone buy this over the old model?"

It's live blog handover time

Thanks for joining me for all the updates on Apple's 'Welcome home' event so far. It's time for me to hand the live blog over to my colleague, Scott Younker, who will take us through the rest of the afternoon.

Meanwhile, reactions are flooding in on the products Apple has revealed today — and if you've got opinions, we want to hear them. Drop your thoughts in the comments box below, and we'll respond with our takes too!

Apple HomeView first look

My colleague Kate was able to get a first look at the Apple HomeView smart home hub.

Check it out in our video above.

“Apple is racing to get Siri into the home while households upgrade their speakers”

Research Director Mohit Agrawal of Counterpoint Research provided some commentary on the new HomeView.

"Apple believes it has the platform and strategy to win, and is putting Siri in the room before Google and Amazon lock in those households. Most smart speakers and hubs in homes today are low-cost devices that can't run AI at the edge, so they are ripe for replacement."

They added that by partnering with LG and Schneider Electric lets Apple quickly "fill out the home."

Lets talk chips

Yes, the price is absurd and isn't remotely justified by the new chip, though the higher RAM capacity might shoulder some of that blame.

What I'm interested in is performance, though. The previous Apple TV (2022) features the A15 Bionic chip from 2021 that is showing its age.

The new 2026 version features the A19 that debuted with the iPhone 17 and features in the iPhone 17e. Apple claims 50% faster performance.

In the iPhone 13 our benchmarks found that A15 Bionic scored 1733 single core and 4718 multicore. In the iPhone 17, the A19 was much higher at 3,701 and 9,460.

That's some serious improvement which should make the new Apple TV feel faster, more responsive and efficient.

What about the HomePod mini 2?

For obvious reasons the HomeView smart home hub and stupid expensive Apple TV refresh is taking the headlines, but Apple did announce the HomePod mini 2.

For the most part, the big changes are around Siri AI capabilities and a new better Apple S10 chip, and more integrated into smart home and theater systems. There are a couple new features that we'll discuss in the next post like SoundGlow.

The HomePod mini 2 comes with a higher $149 price tag, up $50 from the original's $99. It comes in pink, green, blue, white, and midnight.

The Wall-mounted version of HomeView is not $299; it's more

If you're more interested in the wall-mounted version of the HomeView, you'll want to save up a few more dollars.

While it has the same $299 starting price as the speaker version, it requires a mount and power solution. On the Apple Store page, three different mounts are listed, and the cheapest one is $60.

The mounts are made by Schneider Home.

Here's what you'll pay to put this thing on a wall:

• Power Mount USB-C wall connector - $59.95
  • Power adapter is sold separately.
• Power Mount AC Wired - $79.95
  • Recommend installation by a licensed electrician.
• Power Mount PoE Wired - $129.95
  • Hardwired Power over Ethernet mount with direct internet connection. Not currently available
• No mount - You need a mount and power solution to operate the unit.

This means you're paying closer to $358 on the low end and up to $428 for the PoE mount.

The speaker version does not require a mount, though as far as I can tell can't be removed from the speaker.

Would you turn your home in an Apple system?

Between the HomeView and Apple's LG partnership, the company is clearly vying to become the end-all, be-all for your smart home.

With that in mind, would you turn your house into an Apple smart home?

Let me know in the comments.

Everything connects

The image above highlights how the new HomePod mini 2 and updated Apple TV 4K can be turned into a four-speaker home theater system.

However, one of the talking points across the three Apple-designed devices is that they all connect via Siri AI and the operating systems.

You can connect the new speakers to the HomeView or use the new Apple TV as a sort of smart home hub.

You don't need to upgrade for Siri AI

If you're interested in using Siri AI on an Apple TV box, you don't need the 2026 version.

Apple's AI assistant is coming to both the Apple TV 4K 2nd generation and the 3rd generation. It suggests that Apple's latest devices might not be needed to actually run Apple Intelligence.

Here's what Apple said in its press release:
"Siri AI is available as a beta on Apple TV 4K (2nd generation or later), and is available at launch in the U.S., Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, and the UK in English."

It likely won't be as zippy as on the new version, but there's AI, if you want it.

Backwards compatible remote

The HomeView is exciting, but you'll need to forgive me; the updated Apple TV Remote is the device grabbing my attention right now.

For one, it comes with an audible chime that will help you find it when it inevitably disappears.

The new remote is compatible with Apple's Find My tracking feature. You could use Find My for older remotes using your iPhone but the built-in speaker makes it far more useful.

The best part? It's backwards compatible with existing Apple TV boxes. No need to replace your whole setup.

Will Siri AI be enough?

Apple's HomeView device has been rumored for years but part of the delay allegedly came down to Apple struggling with updating Siri and creating its own AI platform.

Siri AI, announced during WWDC 2026, was supposed to fix that but it may not be ready for primetime.

You can find plenty of social posts declaring Siri AI voice embarrassing or complaining about how dumb and slow the new Siri remains.

In testing, my colleague Amanda Caswell said that she believes in Siri again but that there are still plenty of things she'd rather use ChatGPT on.

A big pitch with these devices is using Siri AI to recognize individuals, control your home and voice controls. Maybe it's good for simple things like creatning a calendar event but will that be enough?

Pretty lights

The HomePod mini 2 comes with a new feature called Sound Glow.

Simply, it's an LED light at the top of the speaker where the controls. Basically, it takes on the colors of the artwork of the album you're hearing.

Or you can choose a soundscape to trigger "bespoke animations." The lights will pulse along with the music.

So, that's fun.

Early peek at the HomeView

If you missed it earlier today, we snagged an early sneak peek of Apple's HomeView smart display.

We've put together a guide to seven things you need to know about the Apple smart home hub, from Siri AI to FaceTime and more.

Did you see the HomeView?

Here's a little video of the HomeView in action in case you didn't see it earlier.