After a couple of failed ventures, Apple is reportedly resting its 2025 hopes on a big smart home push, with a new doorbell product tipped.
The company has ditched its automobile ambitions (or at least placed them on hold), while its big VR push hasn’t exactly set the market alight like many predicted. However, there could be salvation for Apple through an increased focus on the smart home.
In his latest news letter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman highlights some of the things to look out for with Apple in the New Year. We’ve heard about Apple’s HomePod smart display already, which Gurman here describes as an “AI-infused smart home hub”.
However, Gurman has expanded upon the subsequent devices that could feed into the aforementioned hub. One of the new devices will apparently be a doorbell that rivals Amazon’s Ring and Google’s Nest equivalents.
According to Gurman, this smart doorbell would feature advanced facial recognition and would connect wirelessly to a deadbolt lock. Just as Face ID unlocks your phone, the idea is that a similarly seamless authentication system would magically grant you contactless entry to your home.
The report states that this doorbell would likely work with existing third party door locks that already support Apple’s HomeKit protocol. There’s also the possibility that Apple teams up with one of those lock makers to offer a compatible system from the off.
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This smart Face ID doorbell is said to be in the early stages, so it’s not expected to come to market until late 2025 at the earliest.
Apple seems to be further along with its previously reported home camera product, which will also feed into its smart hub. Gurmans expects this Apple rival to arrive after the home hub, and for it to come with a particular privacy angle. Apple’s always been hot on this stuff, so it’s hoped that users will be more inclined to trust Apple with footage of their families than with those other companies.
The Apple TV and HomePod mini smart speaker are both set for smart home-related upgrades too, with a new wireless chip for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections as well as improved Thread support.
