Apple's HomeView has its own A18 chip and built-in Apple Intelligence, but it still can't do everything alone.
According to Apple, Siri requests that pull from Messages and Calendar, or take action across apps using personal context, require a paired Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone or iPad running the latest software, with Siri AI turned on and set to a supported language, which for now means English only. Without that pairing, HomeView still handles general-knowledge questions, casual conversation with Siri, and improved music discovery on its own. Qualifying phones include iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone Air, and iPhone 17 Pro; qualifying iPads need an M4 chip or later and at least 12GB of unified memory. HomeKit Secure Video recordings also need to be set up through an Apple Intelligence-capable iPhone or iPad, plus an eligible iCloud+ subscription.
This is the same split Apple has used elsewhere in its Apple Intelligence rollout: build real on-device silicon, then still route the personalized, data-sensitive work through a nearby trusted device or Private Cloud Compute rather than handling it entirely on-box. For HomeView, that means its headline trick, a screen that understands your calendar and messages, only works fully if you already own fairly recent Apple hardware elsewhere in the house.
Call it integration, or call it a tax on not having bought the right phone yet.