Why Apple is finally making its own smart home devices

For more than a decade, Apple has been asking other companies to create smart home devices for its platform. This week, Apple launched its own. The Apple Home Collection is a range of cameras, thermostats, sensors, a smart door lock and a video doorbell, all developed jointly with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric. They arrive alongside HomeView, Apple’s first smart display.

Even after 12 years of HomeKit, Apple’s smart home ecosystem still feels underdeveloped, especially compared to the competition. Amazon and Google’s ecosystems support more products, and both have popular in-house brands: Ring and Nest. Apple didn’t have anything unique to present to customers as an Apple experience – and now it does.

But why now? And is Apple actually adding anything new here, or is it mostly packaging? At Apple’s “Welcome Home” event in New York this week, I spoke with Kaiann Drance, Apple’s vice president of home product marketing, about the company’s new approach to smart home and what it means for Apple’s commitment to Matter, the open, interoperable smart home standard she helped found.

Drance says the main reason for this focus on new smart home hardware was the development of the appropriate technologies. The first was Matter, which provided the ecosystem. The second was AI, which brought a more conversational Siri voice assistant. Both were needed to create a dedicated home device in HomeView. “Thanks to the magic of Siri AI, all of this comes true in a way we’ve never been able to deliver before,” says Drance. “That was a really key part of bringing this all together.”

The biggest play here is HomeView as a gateway to the smart home for Apple users. Buy one to listen to music, guided cooking recipes, and check your calendar, and you may soon want a camera or smart lock to go with it. Drance says he’s found that once people try a single smart device and find it easier than expected, it “opens up this delicious understanding of what’s possible once you bring these products into the home.” She says most people simply don’t know what a smart home can do.

She’s not wrong. The biggest barrier to purchasing smart devices is that people see no value in the products, according to a study by Parks Associates. Privacy and security concerns and complexity also loom large, as does cost. Even if Apple does not address the cost issue here, the products to start at $200 — the other elements are part of its pitch: one-click setup, your data remains yours, a single application to run everything. Apple’s seal of approval also carries a lot of weight. “Apple product owners are very, very loyal and there is a large user base,” said Elizabeth Parks, president and chief marketing officer of Parks Associates.

From a personalized adventure to a tailor-made solution

Until now, Apple Home has been a bit like a buffet: you can choose from any brand that supports HomeKit or Matter and hope for the best. The Home Collection is more like a chef’s choice, a short list of dishes Apple promises will pair well. Drance says that’s what some customers were asking for. “With Matter, there are lots of choices and lots of great products,” she says. “But sometimes we get asked, ‘Hey, what product should I put in the house?’

Rather than manufacturing devices itself, Apple chose to co-develop the line with partners who “have their own home expertise.” Both have a global footprint and domestic experience, she says, “LG more in consumer products, Schneider in home construction and installation.” Drance says it was a grassroots collaboration with Apple bringing “the design aesthetic that would fit the home and fit our family of products.” The company also partners with ADT through Apple Stores to help people install the devices.

Drance says setup and ease of use were a priority. “The one-click setup was really important to make things so simple, without needing a separate account, or a separate app,” she says. “We just wanted this simplicity to be at the heart of our approach, and of course, the confidentiality that we have developed with our partners.” She says everything integrates through Apple Home; you don’t need to create an LG or Schneider account and all data is end-to-end encrypted, so only you can access it.

Drance made it clear that the Apple Home Collection is not a replacement for the sideboard, the hardware ecosystem that has grown up around Apple Home. “We still have this incredible ecosystem with Matter, and with Works with Apple Home, that will continue,” she says. “We know that homes are not a one-size-fits-all solution, so our customers will continue to have that choice, and we also remain committed to building this ecosystem.”

The hardware largely backs it up. The lock, thermostats and sensors are compatible with Matter; the lock supports Aliro and works entirely locally, and each device supports Thread. The exception is cameras, which use Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video, not Matter. This is the biggest blockage. I was surprised that Apple didn’t announce support for the Matter camera. But Thread radios suggest the hardware might be ready for Matter, and Apple may be waiting for the Matter camera standard to support encrypted downloads, which HKSV already does.

So what’s the benefit?

Does the Home Collection do anything that other Apple Home devices can’t do? In theory, no; in practice, yes. “What we’ve done with Apple Home Collection is add another layer to that, this deeper integration,” Drance says. There are no features exclusive to the Home Collection; that’s more what Apple says all features will be here. It’s a bit like Google making a Pixel phone to show Android developers what Android can do: Apple products come with the full suite of features offered by the platform.

According to Apple, setup is as easy as connecting your iPhone to the device, like pairing AirPods, with no accounts or additional apps needed and no scanning required. Each device uses Thread to stay connected if Wi-Fi goes down, and Apple says each can update its own network credentials when you change your Wi-Fi. This could solve offline device issues that plague Apple Home. Everything is end-to-end encrypted and the cameras continue recording to the built-in storage if your Wi-Fi goes down.

The devices also support Apple Home features that other manufacturers have been slow to adopt. The LG lock is only the third to offer hands-free home key unlocking via UWB, and both thermostats work with Apple’s Clean Energy Guide and Adaptive Temperature, which adjusts based on your location and sleep schedule.

At least that’s the promise. We’ll have to test these devices to see how well they work.

Together, Apple’s new devices form a polished and cohesive smart home starter kit, albeit a pricey one. The cameras, lock, and thermostats cost between $200 and $400, and Camera History requires an iCloud Plus plan. As Drance said, smart home isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, so it won’t work for everyone. If you already have a Ring doorbell or Google Nest Hub, this probably isn’t for you. Instead, Apple is trying to guide its existing customers who haven’t yet purchased a video doorbell or smart lock on an organized path to the smart home.

However, Apple faces a tougher challenge in the broader market: it’s coming late. The smart display category is already mature; millions of homes have Echo and Google smart displays. Millions more have Ring or Nest doorbells, neither of which will work with HomeView at launch.

As a smart home platform, Apple Home ranks third in adoption, behind Google, with Amazon leading the way, according to a study by Parks Associates. But customer loyalty to these platforms is not guaranteed. According to Parks, four out of five smart households would consider switching homes, especially if another platform allowed them to control everything in one place. “Interoperability will be key, but the most important thing is to own the relationship with the consumer,” she says.

With its Home Collection, Apple is not reinventing the smart home; it tries to make access easier A.