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Apple is preparing its most direct challenge yet to Amazon and Google in the connected home, lining up a new hub and a slate of security and climate devices developed with LG Electronics, according to people familiar with the plans.

The products — a doorbell, deadbolt lock, thermostat, indoor camera, outdoor camera and floodlight camera — are designed to work with an Apple smart-home ecosystem the company has been rebuilding for years, Bloomberg News reported. The hardware is expected alongside a long-delayed smart-home hub, an updated HomePod mini and a new Apple TV, with an introduction targeted for October 13th.

If the schedule holds, the launch would mark Apple’s first full-scale push into a category Amazon’s Ring and Alphabet’s Nest have dominated with doorbells, cameras, locks and thermostats. It would also be one of the first major product expansions under Chief Executive John Ternus, and a formal reboot of HomeKit, the platform Apple introduced in 2014 that never matched the reach of Alexa or Google Home.

At the center of the effort is a tabletop hub, internally code-named J490, described as a roughly six-inch square display on a tiltable arm reminiscent of the early-2000s iMac G4. A wall-mountable variant, J491, is also in development. The device runs a new interface drawn from iOS, tvOS, and watchOS, built around Apple’s rather capable Siri AI. It is expected to handle device control, FaceTime, intercom, media and household personalization, using the front camera and voice recognition to switch the screen to the person standing in front of it.

The LG-developed accessories are meant to give that hub something to control beyond lights and plugs. The deadbolt is said to support ultra wideband, so it can unlock as an authorized iPhone approaches — an extension of the proximity features Apple already uses in AirTag, car keys and Home Key. Cameras and the doorbell would put Apple in direct competition with Ring’s security lineup and Nest’s cameras and doorbells, categories where both rivals sell hardware and recurring cloud-storage plans.

Apple has reasons to move now, and reasons the timing has reportedly been delayed several times. The hub was once expected in 2024, then spring 2026, and slipped again while Apple reworked Siri. Amazon and Google spent those years embedding newer assistants — Alexa+ and Gemini for Home — into speakers, displays and cameras, and both already support Matter and Thread, the interoperability standards Apple is also expected to lean on. Samsung’s SmartThings platform has a different advantage: televisions and appliances already in millions of homes.

Apple’s counter is the installed base it already owns. iPhones, Apple TV devices, and HomePods can act as controllers, and the company has long sold privacy and on-device processing as the difference versus cloud-heavy rivals. The risk is price and breadth. Earlier reporting has put the hub near $350, well above typical Amazon Echo Show and Nest Hub prices, and HomeKit’s certified-device list remains far smaller than Alexa’s or Google’s. An iPhone is still expected to be required for setup.

Apple has not commented on the reports. Until the expected October 13th event, the lineup remains unconfirmed, but, after a decade on the edge of the category, Apple is seemingly trying to turn the home into another place where its hardware, its assistant, and its services set the terms, rather than leaving that role to Amazon and Google.

Breadth of devices is overrated: People only need a few smart doorbells, cameras, locks, plugs, sensors, and thermostats from which to choose, not fifty of each. Too many options just add confusion for average people who are just trying to make their homes smarter. Apple’s advantage is privacy, security, and ease-of-use, which includes the larger Apple ecosystem in which billions of users already operate.

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Source link: https://macdailynews.com/2026/10/07/amazon-google-face-new-smart-home-rival-as-apple-preps-smart-home-blitz/

Apple is preparing a broader smart-home lineup that includes a video doorbell, thermostat, and other accessories co-developed with LG Electronics, according to Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman.

The devices are meant to sit alongside Apple’s own upcoming hardware: a new smart-home hub, an upgraded HomePod mini, and a refreshed TV set-top box. Those Apple products are set to be introduced on October 13th, Gurman reported, citing people familiar with the plans. The LG-linked accessories are running behind that schedule and are not expected to reach buyers for at least a few more months.

Beyond the doorbell and thermostat, the partnership covers a smart deadbolt lock, an indoor security camera, an outdoor security camera, and a floodlight camera, the people said. Even though Apple and LG worked on the products together, they will carry the LG brand. LG is handling manufacturing and product support, while Apple is shaping design, features, and engineering.

Gurman described the arrangement as part of a pattern Apple has used with “second-party” suppliers, including Foxconn’s Belkin and Logitech, in which products developed with Apple ship under another company’s name. The approach lets Apple expand an ecosystem without taking on the full cost of making and supporting a wide accessory line.

Recent regulatory filings have already surfaced product names. LG has sought approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and UL Solutions for items labeled the LG Video Doorbell Wired, LG Floodlight Cam, LG Outdoor Cam Plug-In, LG Indoor Cam Plug-In, LG Smart Deadbolt Lock, LG Smart Thermostat, and LG Temperature Sensor. LG asked that photos and more precise details stay confidential until early next year. The filings do not mention Apple.

Many of the devices support Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread, and Matter. The lock also includes ultra-wideband, which can enable automatic unlocking as an authorized user approaches the door, according to the report.

For Apple, the push is a formal reboot of HomeKit, the platform it launched in 2014 that has lagged Amazon and Google. The company is counting on the new devices and Siri AI to revive the category. Gurman has also reported that Apple is planning further home products of its own, including a privacy-focused home-monitoring device, a hub variant that mounts the screen on a robotic arm, and an in-home security monitoring service.

For LG, better known for TVs and appliances, the lineup is a rare expansion into connected security and climate control: its first indoor camera in nearly a decade, and its first recent outdoor camera, thermostat, floodlight camera, and doorbell. It would also be LG’s first smart lock sold outside South Korea.

That puts both companies closer to Amazon’s Ring and Google’s Nest. Apple and LG declined to comment, Gurman reported. The two have a long history — LG Display supplies screens for many Apple products, Apple has integrated services into LG TVs, and nearly a decade ago Apple co-developed external monitors with LG after briefly leaving that market.
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LG will be the first of many, hopefully.

And, now, a blast from the past:

LG is the former “Lucky GoldStar,” as it was known in the United States before rebranding to “LG.” In other words: for years, they made some of the world’s worst craptronics; so bad, in fact, that they had to change their name. – MacDailyNews, December 18, 2007

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Source link: https://macdailynews.com/2026/10/07/apple-and-lg-co-develop-doorbell-lock-and-thermostat-for-smart-home-push/