Apple Homeview, Microsoft Surface Ultra, and Fitbit Edge. It's TECHtober.

Apple’s new HomeView smart home display costs $299, the same as its own new Apple TV 4K, and the company’s new LG-partnered video doorbell is $250. The new Fitbit Edge, by contrast, is $179 with a seven-day battery life and dedicated GPS. Those price points tell you a lot about the week in tech that the Waveform podcast calls “TECHtober.” The hosts—Marques Brownlee, Andrew Manganelli, and David Imel—walk through Apple’s home event, Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Ultra, and a Fitbit that finally makes sense.

Apple HomeView: an expensive first draft

The HomeView is Apple’s first attempt at a dedicated smart home display, a seven-inch square LCD that sits on a metal base with a built-in woofer or mounts to a wall without one. Both versions cost $299, which the hosts found baffling: the wall-mount version loses the woofer and doesn’t include any mounting hardware, so buyers have to spend another $60 to $130 on power adapters or Power over Ethernet accessories. “The same price is insane because you get a big speaker when you have the one that sits on your table,” Marques said.