Apple Taps LG to Build a Doorbell, Lock and Cameras for the Smart Home
Trending Topics Jakob Steinschaden
Apple’s working with LG on a doorbell, lock and cameras for the home. The twist: they may wear LG’s badge, not Apple’s.
Based on reporting by Trending Topics, Jakob Steinschaden — read the original for the full story.
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Apple is moving deeper into the smart home, but it may do some of the work with someone else’s logo on the box. Bloomberg says Apple and LG Electronics are developing a set of connected-home devices together, and LG is the brand expected to sell them.
The lineup is broad: a smart doorbell, a thermostat, a deadbolt lock, plus three cameras — one for indoors, one for outdoors and a floodlight camera. That puts the pair in territory long ruled by Amazon’s Ring and Google’s Nest. LG has already started the regulatory approval process, although Apple’s name doesn’t show up in the filings.
If the timeline holds, the devices could reach the market in early 2027. It’s a familiar Apple move in one sense. The company has worked with outside manufacturers before, including on LG’s UltraFine monitors for Macs. Here, though, the advantage is obvious: Apple can push its ecosystem into doorbells and locks without having to put its own badge on hardware bolted to front doors and exterior walls.
Bloomberg says it’s still not clear whether these LG products will replace the Apple cameras that have long been rumored. Either way, they sit next to a larger Apple push that’s now coming into view. Next Tuesday, the company is expected to unveil its own smart home hub, a square display of about 6 inches with tabletop and wall-mounted versions, along with a new HomePod mini and a new Apple TV with faster chips for A.I. features. Apple is also planning a tabletop robot for 2027, and Bloomberg says the hub and robot are to be built in Vietnam with China’s BYD.
LG is not just filling orders here, either. It has been building its smart home business for years, including its ThinQ platform and an 80 percent stake in Homey maker Athom, bought in 2024 for an estimated $61 million. The market is crowded and familiar, with Amazon strong in doorbells and cameras, Google solid in thermostats and cameras, Samsung bundling devices through SmartThings, and smaller players such as Aqara, Eve and Netatmo already serving Apple’s Home app. Apple’s bet is that a tighter mix of its own hub and partner hardware will feel more complete than the bits and pieces everyone else is selling.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
Apple keeps trying to make the home feel like a polished extension of the phone, which is fine as long as someone else handles the ugly bits on the wall. Using LG as the face for cameras and locks is a neat trick: less risk for Apple, more reach for Apple, and one more reminder that the smartest move in hardware is sometimes not signing your name to it.
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