Apple ships $299 HomeView, skips EU over Siri AI

Apple's decision to launch HomeView in seven countries while skipping the European Union highlights how the company's AI roadmap now shapes its product geography. The $299 smart display is built around what Apple calls "an entirely new version of Siri that is profoundly more capable and conversational," and the company states plainly that HomeView is not available for sale in the EU because Siri AI is currently unavailable in iOS there. Apple adds that it is working constructively with the EU in an attempt to find a path forward. The exclusion means the device's core pitch—broad world knowledge, onscreen awareness, and the ability to draw on a user's personal context across apps—cannot be offered in that market at launch.

The launch itself follows a pattern of Apple AI product moves, arriving just days after its Harbor Mac-clustering tool for local inference. Hardware details are sparse: Apple's release names no executive and publishes no camera specs. The display is a 7-inch Liquid Retina screen designed for a counter or wall, and both the tabletop and wall-mounted models cost the same $299. Schneider Home wall mounts range from $59.95 for a USB-C version to $129.95 for a Power over Ethernet variant. The EU's absence reads as a footnote on the launch rather than a separate setback, since the company frames the device entirely around a feature it cannot ship there.