Apple's £299 HomeView and £149 HomePod mini 2 bring Siri AI home

Apple announced two Siri AI home devices on 13 October 2026, according to its UK newsroom: HomeView, a 7-inch home hub at £299, and HomePod mini 2, a speaker at £149. The two differ on timing. Apple's footnotes say Siri AI on HomeView is in beta. On HomePod mini 2, Apple says Siri AI is "coming to HomePod mini 2 in a future software update".

HomeView: a screen for the kitchen counter or the wall

Apple describes HomeView as a 7-inch Liquid Retina display on a domed speaker base, joined by a tilting stainless steel hinge. It comes in silver, starlight, rose pink and space grey. A separate wall-mounted model comes in space grey and silver, and Apple says it fits one of three mounts from Schneider Home.

According to Apple, HomeView:

• "recognises up to six people" by their faces, and each person gets their own Home Screen
• shows personal content from Messages and Calendar only when the enrolled user is recognised, and only when their paired iPhone or iPad is present and was recently unlocked
• runs FaceTime, Apple Music and smart-home controls, and can livestream up to nine camera feeds at once
• listens for smoke or carbon monoxide alarms and sends an alert to your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch

Apple says setup and multiuser support "require a compatible iPhone or iPad running the latest software".

What Siri AI does, per Apple

Apple calls Siri AI "an entirely new version of Siri powered by the next generation of Apple Intelligence and advanced Apple silicon". The HomePod mini release says it is "built on the latest generation of Apple Foundation Models". Neither release names an outside AI partner.

Apple says Siri AI does more with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone or iPad. In that case it can take "action across apps" and draw on a user's personal context, such as Messages and Calendar. Without one, Apple says users still get Siri AI's "broad world knowledge", natural conversation and improved music discovery. Apple says a conversation started on HomeView carries on in the Siri app on other Apple devices.

According to Apple, Siri requests can use on-device processing or Private Cloud Compute. Apple says data processed in Private Cloud Compute "is not stored nor made accessible to Apple or anyone else".

The footnotes add some conditions:

• "Siri AI is available in beta in HomeView software version 27.2."
• "Certain Apple Intelligence features that rely on server-side models are subject to daily usage limits. Expanded access to such features will be available for a fee in the future."
• Expressive, customisable Siri voices need specific recent iPhones, or iPads with the M4 chip or later and at least 12GB of unified memory, and are "Available in English only."

HomePod mini 2

Apple says HomePod mini 2 runs on the S10 chip and comes in pink, green, blue, white and midnight. Apple lists these features:

• voice recognition for up to six people in a household
• four-speaker surround sound when paired with the new Apple TV 4K (4th generation)
• use as a speaker for a Mac
• a light feature called Sound Glow on top
• smoke and carbon monoxide alarm sound detection, which Apple's footnote says "may detect" alarms, "should not be relied upon" in emergencies, and needs a separate Home app update

Siri AI is not on it at launch. Apple says: "Siri AI will be available in English on HomePod mini 2 via a future software update in the U.S., Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, and the UK." It gives no date. The footnotes say Siri AI on HomePod mini 2 "requires the owner of the home in the Home app to have an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone or iPad".

UK prices and dates

From Apple's UK newsroom:

• HomeView (tabletop or wall-mounted): £299 for either model. UK pre-orders opened on Tuesday 13 October, with availability from Friday 13 November. The wall mounts start at £54.95 (USB-C) and £69.95 (AC wired). A PoE mount follows in early 2027 at £119.95.
• HomePod mini 2: £149. Apple says pre-orders opened on 13 October in the U.S. and more than 23 other countries and regions, "with availability in stores beginning Friday, October 30."
• Siri AI on HomeView is "available in English in the U.S., Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, and the UK."

Not in the EU

Apple says: "Apple HomeView is not available for sale in the European Union, as Siri AI is currently unavailable in iOS in the EU. Apple is working constructively with the EU in an attempt to find a path forward." The HomePod mini release says "Siri AI will not be initially available in the EU in iOS or iPadOS."

Apple does not tie the EU position to any named regulation in either release. Its releases list the UK among the English-language Siri AI markets for both devices.

Why it matters

On our reading, the UK is on the right side of Apple's EU split: UK buyers can order HomeView, while Apple says it is not for sale in the EU. Two points from Apple's own footnotes matter for buyers. Apple's footnotes describe HomeView's Siri AI as a beta. HomePod mini 2 owners will wait for a software update, with no date given. Apple also says some server-side features have daily limits and that expanded access will cost a fee in the future. It has not said how much.