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Apple Reportedly Working on 'Small Sensor for Managing Home Security'

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Here's an interesting tidbit from Mark Gurman's profile of John Ternus for Bloomberg: Apple is apparently working on a smart home sensor.

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The article said Ternus is leading development of a trio of new home products, including a tabletop robot with a swiveling screen, a smart home hub with Apple Intelligence and facial recognition, and "a small sensor for managing home security."

The sensor has an internal codename of J450, according to Gurman. In his previous reporting, he has referred to this J450 product as a security camera, but in his Ternus profile he opted to describe the accessory as a "small sensor."

Ultimately, it sounds like it will be both a HomeKit camera and a sensor.

Last August, Gurman reported that the camera was "designed for home security" and "has facial recognition and infrared sensors to determine who is in a room." It will be powered by a battery, he added, so it will probably be wireless.

In addition to security, Gurman said the accessory will be designed for "automating tasks."

"Apple believes users will place cameras throughout their home to help with automation," wrote Gurman. "That could mean turning lights off when someone leaves a room or automatically playing music liked by a particular family member."

Indeed, many third-party HomeKit sensors offer all-in-one functionality for motion and people detection, indoor temperature and humidity measurement, the level of light in a room, and more. These sensors are typically part of a home's broader HomeKit ecosystem, working in unison with smart lightbulbs, door locks, thermostats, and more.

Apple is planning to develop an entire lineup of smart home cameras and security products, according to that August report, and that might even include a video doorbell with Face ID. These accessories will likely be sold as optional add-ons to the company's long-rumored smart home hub, which is currently expected to launch in September.

Article Link: Apple Reportedly Working on 'Small Sensor for Managing Home Security'
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/03/23/apple-small-sensor-for-security-rumor/
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Reactions: Z-4195
Will be interesting to see the final product. A lot of changes in the 'Home' department. With the right pricing, it can end up to be a successful product.
 
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Not interested with HKSV max resolution being 1080p, recording is terrible in HomeKit (missed events etc.), i tried as many HomeKit cameras as i could get my hands on all terrible.

Ill stick with my Ubiquity cameras, CloudKey, with home bridge plugin.
No monthly fees
Cheaper cameras, more options,
Better recording options & quality,
Can view in HomeKit if you want.
 
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George Orwell would definitely be interested. Full house surveillance will be a boon for perverts able to see "EVERYTHING" going on inside and outside of a structure. Every word uttered will be monitored by the thought police.

Just science fiction some say.

Orwell's 1984 was written decades before and he nailed the technology in use today. We even have the three "big" countries where allies change faster than kids swapping candy after Halloween.

We need to sit back and think about what we have on our person that tracks every move and listens to every word one says and those of folks nearby. Are we really sure the cell phone is totally off or is tracking always on by default? No removable battery means we really do not know for sure.

A flashlight without batteries does not usually cast a light. There are models with a crank that generates power to recharge the included battery. Have had a device that shaking it would charge the bakery.

Every television today has both microphones and speakers and a camera. Most are connected to the home WiFi which in turn connects to the internet. NSA monitors ALL traffic on the internet and has for decades.

Privacy could be defined as no clothing or devices on a body outside of a powered structure where there could be a monitoring equipment that such a place would both be sound proof and blocking ability to read lips.

Just saying......
 
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tyranne201 said:
we don't need sensors from Apple.

just open HomeKit integration and we are happy.
Click to expand...
I would love to see apple work with a company like say Ubiquity. I have tons of Unifi gear all over my house and I would love for it to be able to chit chat with home kit. Although if Apple could manage to get a decent wire free (Solar with Battery and wifi connectivity) camera I wouldn't say no. Just dont make me have to buy an "i-Secure" piece of hardware to sit around doin nothing.
 
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PieVsCake said:
I would love to see apple work with a company like say Ubiquity. I have tons of Unifi gear all over my house and I would love for it to be able to chit chat with home kit. Although if Apple could manage to get a decent wire free (Solar with Battery and wifi connectivity) camera I wouldn't say no. Just dont make me have to buy an "i-Secure" piece of hardware to sit around doin nothing.
Click to expand...
I have the same use homebridge it works great with homekit. Better then any HKSV camera
 
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They need to give us management for people to control specific rooms and which shouldnt be allowed to control specific devices
 
I understand the worries about someone hacking into this and spying on your house. But, Apple will know about that, and Apple is really the only company that seems to think hard about privacy concerns. If this really had a camera, from the description it sounds like it's meant to identify the person in frame, not necessarily as a full blown security camera. That can be done inside the home network, on whatever device is handling that (AppleTV for example), and not necessarily need to transmit anything to the outside world. That would be in line with how Apple has done security stuff in the past, and work as support for the HomePad so it might know where people are in the house and what to do for them in any particular room.

A truly interactive house will need that kind of setup if you want to do things like have your AI agent "follow" you through the house without picking up an iPad and carrying it around. It's the kind of technology that shows up in sci-fi (think of Jarvis in Ironman, to work as he did required this kind of setup). I don't think any company could pull this off right now besides Apple, and for Apple to do it they would have to reach out with creative muscles that we haven't really seen for a while...this is a really complex concept to take on, but the pieces are largely there now to make it happen.

I do have to say that I'm looking forward to an Apple solution that could integrate everything smartly, I've cobbled together some stuff but it's not nearly as useful as I'd like and in no way integrated to do things that would make it more than a support system around the house. We're going to find out sometime this year what they are planning, and if they can pull it off and make an AI agent with the capability to do something this sophisticated...Siri really remains the problem with what they want to do, they need to solve that to make any of the rest of this happen (and it's not clear to me that the LLM version of AI really has the capability to do all these things, much less well and cohesively).
 
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At this point...I think a trunk monkey would be more reliable than something Apple comes up with. Just move him into a hallway closet.




🙂
 
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As a huge Apple guy, this is something about which I can't get super excited. And the reason? Ikea.

Yes, Ikea.

Earlier this year, they announced a handful of Matter-based accessories that pair up brilliantly with any Apple device that serves as a Thread router (my Apple TV and HomePods among them). So among the sensors, you have:

  • MYGGSPRAY, an IP67-certified motion sensor;
  • MYGGBETT a door/window contact sensor;
  • TIMMERFLOTTE, a temperature/humidity sensor;
  • ALPSTUGA, an air quality sensor; and
  • my favourite of the bunch (and I think everyone else's favourite, since it's been sold out for months), KLIPPBOK, a water leak sensor.
I have all of these except ALPSTUGA. So far, I've got TIMMERFLOTTE monitoring a notoriously crafty room, and I've set up the KLIPPBOK near my water heater, and it will send a critical alert to all of my linked devices if it detects a leak. Heck, when I tested it with a bit of moisture on my finger, it beeped like crazy; I think it'll know about a leak before the floor even does. I'm going to put one MYGGBET on my patio door and another on my living room window, and have them set up so that if I leave either one open, say while grilling or just wanting to get some fresh air circulating, it'll pause my Ecobee thermostat and not cool the neighbourhood. Once my backyard is no longer icy or muddy (so, in southern Ontario…May?), I'll mount the MYGGSPRAY in an inconspicuous area and have it turn on the light over the back door if it detects motion at night.

But the real killer feature? All of these are dirt cheap, considering I don't need to also purchase a hub; my Apple TV and HomePods handle this perfectly. For $65, I got five sensors that can help me automate the other smart devices in the home; if Apple comes up with something, there's a good chance one sensor would be about $65. Once Ikea has more of the KLIPPBOKs in stock, I'll be making a return trip to get more.
 
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Hopefully they'll release an outdoor version so I can catch those damn bears before they get into my trash again!
 
All this HomeKit product should be ready right now. Connecting to HomeKit is easy. Delays and “working on” are ridiculous.
 
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