Apple 'Welcome Home' Event: Everything That Was Announced, India Pricing & Availability

Apple unveiled three smart home products at its 'Welcome Home' event held at an Apple Experience in Tribeca, New York. The lineup includes the HomeView smart display, a new Apple TV 4K and the HomePod mini 2. All three are tied to Apple's upgraded Siri AI, though the HomePod mini 2 gets it only through a later update. Apple says each can control compatible smart home accessories. HomeView is the headline launch, a new type of device for Apple. All the three devices will also be available in the Indian market.

1. Apple HomeView

HomeView is priced at Rs. 39,900 in India and $299 (roughly Rs 28,000) in the US. The Indian price is about Rs. 12,000 above the converted US price, though US prices exclude sales tax. Pre-orders open today in India, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US, with sales starting November 13. It comes in Silver, Starlight, Rose Pink and Space Gray, and a wall-mounted version costs the same.

It has a 7-inch Liquid Retina display with up to 500 nits of brightness, sitting on a domed speaker base. It runs on the A18 chip with Siri AI and can recognise up to six people, giving each a personalised Home Screen. Other features include FaceTime with Center Stage, a dashboard for lights, locks and thermostats, and a Home Camera view that shows up to nine feeds at once. Apple says camera and microphone data is processed in isolated runtimes on the chip.

2. Apple TV 4K (4th Generation)

The new Apple TV 4K also costs Rs. 39,900 in India and goes on sale on November 13. It is powered by the A19 chip, which Apple says delivers up to 50 percent faster CPU performance and up to twice the GPU performance of the previous generation. It adds a dedicated AV1 decoder and three far-field microphones. Siri AI can recommend titles and answer follow-up questions about what you are watching in a compact overlay. The updated remote supports Find My with Precision Finding, and four HomePod mini 2 or HomePod (2nd generation) speakers can create a surround setup.

3. HomePod mini 2

The HomePod mini 2 is priced at Rs. 18,900 in India and available from October 30, the earliest of the three. It comes in Pink, Green, Blue, White and Midnight. It runs on the S10 chip with computational audio and 360-degree sound, and can work alone, as a stereo pair or in multiroom setups. A new feature called Sound Glow makes the top of the speaker glow and pulse with the music. It can also serve as a smart home hub for automations and scenes. Siri AI is not available out of the box, and Apple says it will arrive in a future software update.

The HomePod mini 2 arrives first, on October 30. HomeView and the Apple TV 4K follow on November 13. Apple's iPad mini and Mac announcements are expected separately, as reported earlier this month.