Three days after Apple put HomeView, the A19 Apple TV 4K, and the HomePod mini 2 up for pre-order, 9to5Mac's Overtime podcast gives its 86th episode to the whole smart home reboot. The two hosts like almost all of the hardware. What they can't name is the job HomeView is supposed to do in a home that already has an iPhone in every pocket.

Where the hosts land

  • HomeView looks better than its pitch. The 7-inch display is a true square at 1088 by 1088 pixels, and both hosts read the aluminum base as an iMac nod. One is glad Apple skipped the HomePod's mesh, since the kitchen in every demo is exactly where fabric goes gray.
  • One screen makes an odd hub. Neither would put a HomeView in every room, so the lights still get dimmed from a phone. One host points to the people who hung an old iPad on the wall with the Home app open years ago. Neither pre-ordered.
  • The wall model is the better idea on worse terms. Mounted by the front door like an alarm panel, it's the most convincing smart home controller of the lineup, in one host's view. It also loses the bass in the base, and the box holds neither the mount nor a power adapter.
  • Multi-user Siri leans on your phone. Personal answers for several people need a recently unlocked iPhone with Apple Intelligence on the same Wi-Fi. The hosts ask the obvious question: if the phone is that close, why not look at the phone instead?
  • The Apple TV 4K has no rival in an Apple home. AirPods switching, FaceTime handed to the TV, Continuity Camera, karaoke mode: one host can't picture a TV without it. With the A19 inside and Xbox and PlayStation controllers supported, they also pitch it as most of a game console for Apple Arcade. The redesigned Siri Remote, with Precision Finding and a speaker, sells separately and pairs with older boxes.
  • The HomePod mini 2 mostly exists for surround sound. Its acoustics look unchanged, the S10 replaces the S5 for Siri AI, and Siri AI itself comes after the October 30 ship date. Surround needs the A19 Apple TV and matched pairs, two second-generation HomePods or two minis per pair, so an older mini is left out.

The LG and Schneider Home gear in Apple's Home Collection gets a shrug for looking plain, which both hosts decide is what a smart lock should look like.

The wall model is the take I'd underline. A screen by the door that runs the lights is a job HomeView can own outright, and it's the version iPhoners will have to fit out themselves before it does anything at all.