Apple Rumored to Launch Smart Home Doorbell With Face ID and More

[MacRumors]

Apple is in the early stages of developing a smart home doorbell and lock system with Face ID, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the doorbell would wirelessly connect to a compatible deadbolt lock, allowing users to automatically unlock a door with Face ID. The doorbell would likely work with third-party HomeKit locks, but Apple could also partner with another brand to offer an all-in-one solution, he said.

Apple's doorbell would compete with Amazon's line of Ring doorbells, but Gurman did not say if Apple's solution would capture video.

Apple would almost certainly tout the privacy and security benefits of its own smart home doorbell. If the product is ever released, Gurman expects that it will be equipped with Apple's rumored Wi-Fi chip, which is said to have a Secure Enclave to protect user data. And if the doorbell does end up offering video capture, Apple already has a HomeKit Secure Video service with end-to-end encryption for storing footage in iCloud.

Gurman believes Apple's doorbell is unlikely to launch until 2026 at the earliest.

Apple seemingly has plans to make a bigger push into the smart home space over the next few years. In addition to this doorbell, the company is expected to launch a smart home hub next year, and it is also rumored to be planning its own HomeKit-enabled indoor security camera that would compete with products like Logitech's Circle View.

Article Link: Apple Rumored to Launch Smart Home Doorbell With Face ID and More

 

[emmab2006]

OK I have to admit that is pretty cool.

 

[Bearxor]

Level Lock compatibility LFG

 

[stocklen]

Once again Mark get paid actual money to make up this utter Tutt.

Must be a great job where you can make proclamations with no comeback when they end up not coming true.


So, Mark, a doorbell you say. Sure, I suppose anything is possible but again the market is utterly saturated with these devices and as Apple are unlikely to make any such offering a 'budget' option.... this seems very unlikely to me.

Again, let's get some more HomeKit secure video products on the market and make them work well.... Apple making their own seems a remarkably messy way to work.

 

[icanhazmac]

Very cool and a natural progression for these products but this represents 2 things I have no desire for:

1) Face ID, doesn't enough of our stuff focus on facial recognition? What will it do with other faces it sees? I would trust Apple with this more than say MetaZuck but I still don't care for it.
2) Face/Phone/Proximity product locks. Call me old fashioned but I'll take physical keys.

All that being said Apple's absence from this type of product puzzles me. With HK's privacy focus, home security products seem a no brainer.

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

if it did happen, apple doesn’t have enough of the supporting product to justify making the switch for me. My ring doorbell works with all the other ring security products I have. Also who wants indoor security cameras? I’d say the majority of security cameras sold are outdoor yes?

 

[211]

Apple is extremely late to the connected home. To only think about the home now after years of other companies doing it, it has to come up with something special for anyone to buy or replace their existing devices, especially as we know it won’t be cheap.

Apple seems to be very unfocused. Wasting time, effort and money on a car, leaving its own devices, apps and services languishing with bugs and in-intuitiveness, not promoting services that a lot of people don’t even know exist, etc.

Before, Apple cared about the user and what ways it can make their lives better, now it doesn’t care because it has the money to do anything- or nothing- it wants

 

[CharlesShaw]

I hope all this home stuff leads to them reviving their line of Airport networking devices.

 

[cicalinarrot]

As a long time Apple user, I'm the first to talk **** about Apple when they deserve it.
But one thing is sure, I'd rather trust them with my face and private videos than Amazon, who basically gave the police a new dystopian-novel-grade video-surveillance system.

 

[victorvictoria]

Think it'll be HomeKit compatible?

 

[rymc02]

Apple is extremely late in the connected home. To only think about the home now after years of other companies do it, it has to come up with something special for anyone to buy or replace their existing devices, especially as we know it won’t be cheap.

Apple seems to be very unfocused. Wasting time, effort and money on a car, leaving its own devices, apps and services languishing with bugs and in-intuitiveness, not promoting services that a lot of people don’t even know exist, etc. Before, Apple cared about the user and what ways it can make their lives better, now it doesn’t care because it has the money to do anything- or nothing- it wants

Apple had the perfect device to expand into home automation 10 years ago but the discontinued it. The Airport was amazing. It would have made the perfect home hub with Apple Silicon. It could handle Siri requests locally for HomePods, Time Machine backups and even have the ability to have local iCloud storage. It could download, store and push updates for all connected Apple devices. If they do make cameras it could store local backups better than most other systems right now that charge for it. Apple would never do this but if they allowed external hard drives to be connected to operate as a NAS, it would be absolutely amazing.

 

[phrehdd]

Once again Mark get paid actual money to make up this utter Tutt.

Must be a great job where you can make proclamations with no comeback when they end up not coming true.


So, Mark, a doorbell you say. Sure, I suppose anything is possible but again the market is utterly saturated with these devices and as Apple are unlikely to make any such offering a 'budget' option.... this seems very unlikely to me.

Again, let's get some more HomeKit secure video products on the market and make them work well.... Apple making their own seems a remarkably messy way to work.

I'm not disagreeing or agreeing with you. I don't know where the "rumour" originates for this possible device as it isn't mentioned. However, since Apple is creating that future homepod with the screen for possible home device integration and AI, do you think (opinion) that Apple might venture into making devices that tightly integrate with this revised and updated, market?

 

[filmantopia]

Makes sense to me. Won’t be Apple’s first ecosystem accessory, and this is an area they could make something exceptionally well.

 

[masterleep]

All I want for Christmas is a decent doorbell with HomeKit Secure Video...

 

[aleni]

Too much unnecessary electronic devices in our life. So much to maintain since electronics are more prone to break.

 

[MacFan23]

Apple is extremely late in the connected home. To only think about the home now after years of other companies do it, it has to come up with something special for anyone to buy or replace their existing devices, especially as we know it won’t be cheap.

Apple seems to be very unfocused. Wasting time, effort and money on a car, leaving its own devices, apps and services languishing with bugs and in-intuitiveness, not promoting services that a lot of people don’t even know exist, etc. Before, Apple cared about the user and what ways it can make their lives better, now it doesn’t care because it has the money to do anything- or nothing- it wants

They may be late, but it's not as if anyone else is doing a particularly good job of it. If you want a half decent home automation system today you're looking at Home Assistant, and if you're in the Apple ecosystem, it integrates beautifully with Apple Home and Siri.

 

[MacFan23]

Very cool and a natural progression for these products but this represents 2 things I have no desire for:

1) Face ID, doesn't enough of our stuff focus on facial recognition? What will it do with other faces it sees? I would trust Apple with this more than say MetaZuck but I still don't care for it.
2) Face/Phone/Proximity product locks. Call me old fashioned but I'll take physical keys.

All that being said Apple's absence from this type of product puzzles me. With HK's privacy focus, home security products seem a no brainer.

Definitely old fashioned but horse for courses.
I use the Nest doorbell and one feature I enjoy about it is the facial recognition. You can name faces it groups together for you and then when those people press the button connected speakers can announce, "x person is at the door". Nothing ground breaking, but I nice little feature.

 

[nfl46]

This is a cool idea but jeez, what took them so long? This is likely years out.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Apple had the perfect device to expand into home automation 10 years ago but the discontinued it. The Airport was amazing. It would have made the perfect home hub with Apple Silicon. It could handle Siri requests locally for HomePods, Time Machine backups and even have the ability to have local iCloud storage. It could download, store and push updates for all connected Apple devices. If they do make cameras it could store local backups better than most other systems right now that charge for it. Apple would never do this but if they allowed external hard drives to be connected to operate as a NAS, it would be absolutely amazing.

This is the problem though. All of that sounds amazing to us, the users. It sounds terrifying to the quarterly bean counters.

Why would Apple sell us storage once when they could rent it to us forever?

This is why I keep saying services is a corrupting influence.

 

[Rychiar]

if it did happen, apple doesn’t have enough of the supporting product to justify making the switch for me. My ring doorbell works with all the other ring security products I have. Also who wants indoor security cameras? I’d say the majority of security cameras sold are outdoor yes?

Ring doesn’t even work with HomeKit

 

[willzyx]

I'd kill for an Apple-built home security system with actual end-to-end encryption. I have Ring now and it's utterly ****. The fact that Ring cameras still can't continuously record is such a brain dead move (Yes, I know it's coming. But it's coming to new cameras only).

 

[rymc02]

This is the problem though. All of that sounds amazing to us, the users. It sounds terrifying to the quarterly bean counters.

Why would Apple sell us storage once when they could rent it to us forever?

This is why I keep saying services is a corrupting influence.

100%. I think that's why Tim Apple canned the Airport just as they went all in on services. He didn't want people storing data locally when he could charge for it.

 

[BreuerEditor]

All I want for Christmas is a decent doorbell with HomeKit Secure Video...

Google Nest can do it, but you need a Nest Aware subscription, and a Starling hub. I will say that it does work great but it’s a double subscription with Nest Aware and iCloud. The Starling hub is only $99 and seemlessly (and automagically) makes all Google Nest devices HomeKit compatible which has changed our household’s smart home capabilities.

 

[svish]

Having FaceID will be really beneficial. This combined with privacy features of Apple should be enough for many to purchase this product. Hopefully it comes to the market as soon as possible.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Can I have “Things that will not be released in the EU as an Apple product simply ‘existing’ is anticompetitive?” for $200, Alex? /s