Apple's HomeView, the company's first-ever IoT smart hub, has hit stores worldwide, including India, at Rs 39,900 for both the tabletop and wall-mounted models, according to Deccan Herald.

The 7-inch Liquid Retina display pairs a 1,088x1,088 panel with a domed speaker base, an Apple A18 chip, a 12MP Center Stage camera, and support for Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 6.0 and Thread.

It recognises up to six family members by face and personalises Siri answers using Messages, FaceTime, Calendar, Reminders and Find My. Four colours ship at launch: silver, starlight, rose pink and space grey.

Mashable, which tested the HomeView ahead of release, predicts Apple will 'sell a million of these things,' calling it a beautiful digital butler best suited to homeowners and parents — and a near-necessity for buyers of Apple's new Apple TV 4K, HomePod Mini 2, security cameras and video doorbells.

Reviewer Timothy Werth says the display's swirling light-reactive clockface is 'the kind of subtle design flex that reminds you Apple does consumer tech design better than anyone.'

The verdict on Siri is the story's split. Mashable reports the new Siri AI beta 'is still not done cooking,' occasionally making 'stupid mistakes' even as personal context yields useful answers.

NBC News's Joanna Stern went further, writing that in more than 15 years of reviewing gadgets she'd 'never seriously considered crying over one — until now,' titling her family test: the hardware is ready, Siri isn't.

The other gap: there's no App Store, so Safari is the only route to YouTube, Gmail or Disney+.

Beyond the hub role, Mashable highlights a custom recipe experience that detects recipes in Safari and breaks them into ingredient and step lists, plus built-in temperature and humidity sensors for homes without smart thermostats.

Privacy-minded buyers get settings that shield explicit content and sensitive data from unrecognized visitors, though Mashable notes the device would benefit from a physical camera and mic kill switch.

The speakers earned only 'good enough' marks, with bass described as lacking depth despite the down-firing woofer and dual passive radiators.

Success may hinge on how fast Siri AI improves; Mashable notes it 'has been improving with each OS update.' Setup requires an iPhone or iPad running iOS 27.2 or iPadOS 27.2, tying the hub tightly to Apple's ecosystem for the holiday shopping season.