Apple Unveils ‘Apple Home Collection’: Co-Engineered with LG and Schneider Electric to Deliver UWB Smart Locks, Dual-Cam Doorbells, and Privacy Cams from $199

Following the unveiling of the fourth-generation Apple TV 4K, HomePod mini 2, and the HomeView smart display, Apple announced a major expansion of its ambient computing footprint with the Apple Home Collection. Developed in close engineering collaboration with global appliance leader LG Electronics and energy management specialist Schneider Electric, the new lineup establishes Apple’s first comprehensive hardware collection of dedicated home security, access, and climate hardware.

The Apple Home Collection solves one of the smart home industry’s most persistent pain points: fragmented third-party companion apps, mandatory account registrations, and fragile cloud bridges. Every accessory in the collection sets up instantly with a single tap from an iPhone, integrates directly into the Apple Home app, and is managed natively via Siri AI and Apple Intelligence. Spanning smart deadbolt locks with Ultra-Wideband (UWB), dual-camera video doorbells, perimeter floodlight cameras, auto-tilting privacy indoor cameras, and adaptive smart thermostats, prices range from $39.95 for room sensors up to $399.95 for perimeter floodlights, with commercial availability beginning in December 2026.

Zero Third-Party Apps: One-Tap Native Onboarding

Historically, setting up HomeKit or Matter-compatible third-party accessories required downloading an external manufacturer app, creating an account, pairing via proprietary Bluetooth bridges, and firmware-updating through an isolated cloud service. The Apple Home Collection completely eliminates this operational friction:

• Single-Tap Proximity Pairing: Bringing an iPhone near any unboxed Home Collection accessory immediately triggers an iOS pairing card, configuring Wi-Fi, Thread credentials, and room assignments in seconds.
• No Secondary Accounts or Logins: All operational logic, firmware patches, and user access permissions are routed exclusively through the user’s primary Apple ID / iCloud Keychain, removing third-party data tracking.
• Local-First Reliability: Every device supports Matter and local network handshakes. Even if a household’s external broadband connection goes offline, core functionality-such as unlocking doors, adjusting temperatures, and ringing doorbells-continues to execute locally across the home’s Thread mesh network.

Home Access: LG Smart Deadbolt Lock with UWB & Aliro Standard

Priced at $349.95, the LG Smart Deadbolt Lock serves as the flagship entry accessory in the collection, introducing next-generation hands-free access:

• Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Hands-Free Unlocking: Leveraging Apple’s UWB framework and the industry-wide Aliro smart lock standard, the deadbolt senses when an authorized user carrying an iPhone or Apple Watch approaches the front door. Unlike basic Bluetooth geofences that trigger prematurely from the driveway, UWB measures micro-distance and angle of arrival, unlocking the latch only when the user stands directly at the threshold.
• Integrated Door & Tamper Sensing: The unibody lock mechanism senses whether the door is ajar, fully latched, deadbolted, or subjected to physical forced-entry tampering, broadcasting instant priority security alerts to household Apple devices.
• Apple Home Key & Touchpad: Features an illuminated capacitive numeric keypad alongside support for Apple Home Key in Apple Wallet, allowing quick NFC tap-to-unlock even if an iPhone’s battery has depleted into power reserve mode.
• Finishes: Available in precision-machined Essence Graphite and Essence Silver.

Home Monitoring: Dual-Camera Video Doorbell & Floodlight Cam

The video monitoring lineup leverages HomeKit Secure Video (HSV), combining end-to-end encrypted local processing with cloud event history:

1. LG Video Doorbell (Wired) – $249.95

• Dual-Camera Optical System: Addresses blind spots by pairing a 2.5K high-resolution primary camera (capturing visitors from head to toe) with a dedicated 1080p downward-facing secondary lens focused on the doorstep. Users can switch views seamlessly to check for package deliveries.
• Integrated Spotlight & Smart Chime: Includes an integrated white LED spotlight for full-color night identification. Chime audio broadcasts dynamically across HomeView displays, HomePods, and Apple TV 4K screens with live picture-in-picture visitor feeds.
• Colors: Essence Silver and Essence Graphite.

2. LG Floodlight Cam – $399.95

• Perimeter Illumination: Engineered with adaptive dual high-lumen floodlights that activate automatically upon detecting human, vehicle, or animal presence.
• Low-Light Color Vision: Large-format optical sensors preserve full-color imaging in near-pitch darkness without washing out facial features.

3. LG Outdoor Cam (Plug-In) – $299.95

• Flexible Weatherproof Monitoring: An articulated exterior camera featuring low-light color night vision and multi-axis mounting brackets designed for eaves, garage entries, and patio perimeters.

Privacy-First Indoor Monitoring: The Auto-Tilting LG Indoor Cam

Indoor surveillance cameras often raise acute household privacy concerns. Apple and LG address this directly through mechanical hardware isolation:

• Physical Lens Shutter via Auto-Tilt ($199.95): The LG Indoor Cam (Plug-In) takes a mechanical approach to in-home privacy. When a family member checks the live feed via the Home app, the camera tilts upward to reveal the lens.
• Automatic Geofenced Sleep: As soon as the first household member arrives home (or the live session concludes), the camera physically tilts completely downward into its weighted base, mechanically hiding the optical lens and disconnecting the microphone feed.
• Aesthetic Finish: Arrives in clean Essence White to blend into interior bookshelves and credenzas.

Climate Control: Smart Thermostats by LG & Schneider Electric

To manage household energy efficiency, Apple introduced two partner-engineered smart thermostats starting at $199.95:

• LG Smart Thermostat & Schneider Home Smart Thermostat: Built with glass and brushed metal faceplates, both models support broad multi-stage HVAC configurations with on-device wire detection to guide DIY homeowners during installation.
• Adaptive Temperature via On-Device Intelligence: Rather than requiring complex manual programming schedules, the system uses iPhone presence telemetry to adjust target temperatures dynamically based on whether occupants are home, sleeping, or away.
• Clean Energy Guidance: In supported utility regions, the Home app coordinates with the electrical grid to shift energy-intensive heating or cooling cycles to periods when renewable generation is highest and electricity rates are lowest.
• Wireless Room Sensors ($39.95): Standalone LG Temperature Sensors and Schneider Home Room Sensors can be placed in bedrooms or home offices to eliminate hot and cold spots across multi-story layouts.

Apple Home Collection: Hardware Lineup & Specifications

Apple Intelligence & iCloud+ Secure Video Storage

All cameras in the Apple Home Collection interface directly with HomeKit Secure Video under existing iCloud+ subscriptions:

• Storage Allocations: A standard 50GB iCloud+ plan supports one active camera stream, a 200GB plan covers up to five cameras, and the 2TB+ tiers provide unlimited camera channels without counting recorded video clips against personal cloud storage limits.
• Apple Intelligence Video Summaries: Powered by Apple Intelligence running across local Home Hubs (Apple TV 4K, HomeView, or HomePod), the system generates concise natural-language descriptions of detected events (e.g., “Courier in yellow uniform placed a package by the porch and departed at 11:42 AM”).
• Descriptive Natural-Language Search: Users can search surveillance timelines using natural language queries-such as “Find clips of the dog running in the yard yesterday afternoon”-to jump straight to relevant recorded clips.
• Local Offline Storage Backup: In the event of a broadband blackout, the cameras cache encrypted event footage to onboard local storage, uploading the backlogged timeline to iCloud once connectivity is restored.

Commercial Availability

The Apple Home Collection will begin its commercial rollout across North America and select international markets starting in December 2026, with secondary waves (including international availability and PoE installation brackets) shipping in early 2027:

• Retail Channels: Products will be sold directly through the Apple Store online, physical Apple retail locations, and authorized distribution channels from LG and Schneider Electric.
• System Requirements: Requires an iPhone running iOS 20 or later, alongside an active Apple Home Hub (HomeView, Apple TV 4K, or HomePod).

By combining LG’s manufacturing scale and Schneider Electric’s electrical infrastructure expertise with Apple’s software design and privacy protections, the Apple Home Collection presents a unified, secure alternative for modern smart home automation.

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