Apple's Face ID Doorbell Rumored to Feature MagSafe

[MacRumors]

A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple was in the early stages of developing a smart home doorbell and lock system with Face ID. He said the doorbell would wirelessly connect to a compatible deadbolt lock.

In a vague teaser post on X today, a leaker known as Kosutami shared an alleged new feature that Apple is planning for the doorbell: MagSafe.

On select iPhones, MagSafe lets you attach a charger or other accessories to the device magnetically. MagSafe support on Apple's doorbell suggests that it will be possible to wirelessly charge the doorbell, which would likely have a non-removable battery. It is unclear if the doorbell would also have a USB-C port for wired charging.

MagSafe charging would certainly be convenient, but smart home doorbells typically only need to be charged a handful of times per year.

Another thought we had was that Apple's doorbell could have a MagSafe backplate, allowing for the doorbell to be easily taken on and off. However, that would make the doorbell easy to steal, so that theory does not really make sense.

Gurman said Apple's doorbell would launch in 2026 at the earliest, so hopefully additional rumors will paint a clearer picture over the next year or so.

Apple's biggest competitor in this space would be Ring, acquired by Amazon in 2018.

Apple would likely tout the privacy and security benefits of its own smart home doorbell. Apple already offers a HomeKit Secure Video service with end-to-end encryption for storing footage in iCloud, and the doorbell could have a Secure Enclave.

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 this year, and it is also rumored to be planning its own HomeKit-enabled indoor camera that would compete with products like Logitech's Circle View.

Kosutami is best known as a collector of prototype Apple hardware, but they have occasionally shared accurate information about Apple's future product plans. For example, they accurately revealed that the iPhone 16 Pro would be equipped with a metal-enclosed battery, around 10 months before the device launched. They also provided an early look at an Apple Watch band that uses Apple's controversial FineWoven material. On the other hand, Kosutami was wrong about AirPods Pro 3 being imminent in August 2024.

Article Link: Apple's Face ID Doorbell Rumored to Feature MagSafe

 

[cwwilson]

So they will put MagSafe in a doorbell but not in their newest phone 😆

 

[555gallardo]

Can't imagine having my door blown up due to a swollen battery.

 

[ps3zocker]

MagSafe charging would certainly be convenient, but smart home doorbells typically only need to be charged once or twice per year.

Yeah, no. In my experience most smart doorbells need charging at least once a month.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Can't imagine having my door blown up due to a swollen battery.

I don’t know what this means.
Smart doorbells have a battery of some kind, have for years.

 

[MrRom92]

There should be an option to hardwire. Even ring can do it

 

[code-m]

So they will put MagSafe in a doorbell but not in their newest phone 😆

Apple cannot put FaceID on MacBook Pro but is rumoured to do so on a doorbell, I guess priorities are warped in the spaceship.

 

[STOCK411]

as predicted by At&T in the 90s

 

[DocMultimedia]

Yeah, no. In my experience most smart doorbells need charging at least once a month.

Mine is every three to four months. I'm sure they vary quite a bit by manufacturer.

 

[kierennyc]

This would be an instant buy for me. I’m currently using a mishmash of different third-party products and would love a seamless Apple solution for video, doorbell and lock.

 

[ELman]

I prefer a battery that can be swapped out. Living in an area that is below freezing for weeks at a time battery life is impacted. I have two batteries for my ring doorbell making it a quick swap in the cold weather. I also believe it better to bring the battery up to room temperature before charging it.

 

[ifxf]

At least, once a day, it will require you to enter your passcode for security purposes.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

What's the chances of this being Matter/cross-platform enabled?

I'm done with proprietary tech..

 

[asdfjkl;]

There should be an option to hardwire. Even ring can do it

Hardwired power and ethernet or no sale. Ideally PoE. WiFi is a no go as it is too easily defeated. Needing to charge the doorbell is just stoopid.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Hardwired power and ethernet or no sale. Ideally PoE. WiFi is a no go as it is too easily defeated. Needing to charge the doorbell is just stoopid.

There is zero reason to not allow for hardwired power, at minimum Plenty of people have wired doorbells already.

 

[Shin-Ra]

Some ‘smart’ doorbells have 9V battery contacts as backup in a full mains+internal battery outage.

It would be more convenient to temporarily power an Apple doorbell with reverse MagSafe charging from your iPhone in such a scenario, or power your phone from the doorbell if you’ve run the phone battery down beyond Express mode availability.

 

[code-m]

There is zero reason to not allow for hardwired power, at minimum Plenty of people have wired doorbells already.

Seriously what type of shady neighbourhood are people living in. Security cameras, smart everything, blah blah blah seems like paranoia overload to me plus add many social media apps and then people wonder why mental health conditions are on the rise.

 

[Velin]

Yeah, no. In my experience most smart doorbells need charging at least once a month.

Well your experience is extremely limited. We have a smart lock with Bluetooth and NFC, but no WiFi (on purpose). It lasts a year on four aaa batteries.

And that’s true for most Bluetooth/nfc smart locks, which a lot of people purchase. It’s only a WiFi-enabled lock that will burn batteries, and even then, it’s likely poorly designed and/or having to acquire a poor WiFi signal due to router placement.

 

[MN7119]

Yeah, no. In my experience most smart doorbells need charging at least once a month.

My Ring Doorbell was installed so many years ago that I don't even remembered. It replaced an old regular door bell. It is wired so never needed to charge.

 

[swm]

i hope that MagSafe thing won't double as mounting solution, otherwise these things quickly start moving around in some neighbourhoods.

jokes aside, the sort of reason for MagSafe as power source would be to make it absolutely watertight. but i don't think apple wants to sell these in Atlantis.

i don't see the point of adding battery to it at all. w/o any further means of communication other than wifi those things wouldn't be able to function in case of a power outage as there won't be anything around to receive their communication. doorbell should be wired and possibly connected and powered by PoE.

 

[Rychiar]

I hope it's battery. I have no option for wired.Tried to get my electrician to do that years ago but it was too complex with the location

 

[TechWhisperer]

Please leave your phone at the doorbell.

 

[Grayburn]

Mine is every three to four months. I'm sure they vary quite a bit by manufacturer.

I'd say it varies on how much activity the Doorbell picks up.

My front door doorbell picks up a lot more activity then my garage one does round the back of the house hence why it doesn't last as long as the garage doorbell.

 

[SoldOnApple]

What if the MagSafe part was on the outside, but there was nothing on it. And the visitor has to put their phone on it to do a video chat with the home owner. Like there's nfc behind it which connects the visitor to the home owner, but in a way so it doesn't give out your number publicly. Nah, then Android users couldn't use it at all. You'd still need another smart doorbell.

 

[rtr1985]