First look: Apple is working with LG Electronics on smart home accessories, including cameras, door locks and temperature controls, that will work with its upcoming smart home hub, upgraded HomePod mini and new TV set-top box. The partnership gives Apple a broader hardware lineup while leaving manufacturing and product support to LG. The Apple devices are scheduled to be introduced in mid-October, while the LG accessories are not expected to reach consumers for several more months.
Regulatory filings (via Bloomberg) identify a wired video doorbell, indoor and outdoor plug-in cameras, a floodlight camera, a smart deadbolt, a thermostat and a temperature sensor – products that will extend Apple's system beyond entertainment and voice commands into home monitoring, entry, and heating and cooling control.
Many of the accessories support Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, along with Thread and Matter, two smart home protocols adopted by Apple and its competitors. Their inclusion shows which connection technologies LG is building into the hardware, though the available information does not specify which features each product will support through Apple's system.
The deadbolt also includes ultra-wideband, or UWB, technology. That feature allows the lock to open automatically when a user approaches the door, rather than requiring a manual command. Details about compatible devices and how users will set up the feature have not been disclosed.
The product names offer some clues about how they will be installed, including the LG Video Doorbell Wired, LG Indoor Cam Plug-In and LG Outdoor Cam Plug-In.
LG has recently sought approval from the US Federal Communications Commission and certification company UL Solutions. Their databases contain product names, specifications, features and drawings, but not a complete account of how the accessories will operate. LG has asked that photographs and more detailed information remain confidential until early next year.
The filings do not mention Apple's involvement. They also leave important software questions unanswered, including how camera footage will be stored, which functions Siri will control and how the accessories will interact with the new hub.
LG will manufacture the accessories and provide product support. That gives Apple a way to add several device categories without taking on the full job of making and servicing each one. But the joint development also lets Apple help shape the design, features and engineering before the products go on sale.
Apple has followed a similar approach with Belkin and Logitech. It has also worked with LG on external monitors for its laptops and on bringing Apple services to LG televisions.
Neither Apple nor LG commented on the new accessories. The people who described the partnership asked not to be identified because the work is private.
The hardware expansion is part of Apple's effort to revive HomeKit, the platform it introduced in 2014. HomeKit has gained less traction than competing offerings from Amazon and Google, whose Ring and Nest brands already sell many of the device types Apple and LG are developing.
Apple intends to make Siri part of that effort. Bloomberg also reports that the company is planning a privacy-focused home-monitoring device, a version of its hub with a screen mounted on a robotic arm, and an in-home security monitoring service. Those are separate future projects, not part of the LG lineup.
The partnership also expands LG's smart home business. The indoor camera will be its first in nearly a decade, while the lock will be its first sold outside South Korea. The outdoor camera, thermostat, floodlight camera and doorbell mark LG's entries into categories where the company has had no recent products.
Apple is teaming up with LG on smart locks, cameras, and thermostats
