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Every few years, Apple looks at the smart home, sighs, and decides to try again. This week we got the clearest sign yet that the next attempt is a big one.
On October 6, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple has been working with LG Electronics on a whole lineup of smart home accessories built to work with Apple's upcoming home hub. A day later, MacRumors found the FCC filings, and suddenly we had drawings, model numbers and radio test reports to pore over. (Yes, this is what I do for fun. My family has accepted it.)
What's actually in the lineup
According to the reporting, there are seven LG-branded products:
- A smart thermostat
- A smart deadbolt lock
- A temperature sensor
- A wired video doorbell
- An indoor security camera
- An outdoor security camera
- A floodlight camera
The FCC documents cover the first three, and they're more interesting than "LG makes a thermostat" sounds.
The thermostat is a round puck (Gizmodo compares it to a Nest) running on 24-volt AC power. It supports Wi-Fi on both 2.4 and 5 GHz, Bluetooth and Thread, and carries a Matter setup code. The detail that caught my eye: a radio test report confirms a built-in 60 GHz radar. MacRumors notes this could enable presence or approach detection, so the screen might wake up as you walk toward it instead of waiting for you to poke it.
The deadbolt runs on four AA batteries and supports Bluetooth, Thread, NFC and ultra wideband (UWB). An FCC order explains the clever part: the lock first checks a compatible device's credentials over Bluetooth, then uses UWB to figure out where that device actually is before granting access. In plain English, it's the "walk up with your phone and the door just opens" experience, with a sanity check that you're really standing at the door and not just somewhere nearby. It reportedly ships with two mechanical keys, because even the future likes a backup plan.
The temperature sensor is the humble one. It's round, runs on a replaceable CR2477 coin battery, talks over Bluetooth LE and Thread, and has a magnetic back so you can stick it to the fridge like a very expensive souvenir magnet.
Why Apple is doing it this way
Bloomberg describes this whole effort as "a formal reboot of HomeKit." Apple is expected to introduce a new home hub, a new HomePod mini and a new Apple TV 4K on October 13. The LG accessories are expected to follow a few months after that.
The arrangement is what makes this story fun. LG will sell the products under its own brand. Apple reportedly helped shape the designs, features and engineering. LG handles manufacturing and support. Gizmodo calls it a "second-party" partnership, and it isn't Apple's first: the two companies already teamed up on the UltraFine 4K and 5K displays for Macs, and Apple has done similar co-development with Belkin and Logitech.
It's also worth remembering that LG isn't new to this space. In 2024 it bought an 80% stake in Athom, the company behind the Homey smart home platform.
For Apple, the logic is easy to follow. Building a full line of locks, thermostats and cameras in-house is slow and messy. Letting a hardware giant build them to your spec gets you a complete ecosystem on day one. Apple is still reportedly working on its own AI-powered security camera and sensor, separately, expected in 2027.
The question nobody puts on the box
Here's where my day job sneaks into the conversation (sorry, I can't help it).
Picture it. You buy a thermostat that Apple helped design, made by LG, set up in the Apple Home app, connected over Thread to an Apple hub. One chilly February morning it decides your house should be 58 degrees. Who do you call?
Per the reporting, the answer is LG. That makes total sense on paper. In real life, the customer doesn't think in terms of org charts. They think "my heating is broken and I'm cold." The bug might live in the device firmware, the hub, the app, the Wi-Fi or the phone that's supposed to do the UWB handshake at the door. Five possible culprits, at least two companies, and one person standing in the hallway in socks.
Co-developed products are a great way to ship faster. They also make the support experience a team sport, and the team has to pass the ball well. The brands that win in connected hardware usually aren't the ones with the coolest radar chip. They're the ones that can tell you what went wrong, and how to fix it, before you've finished muttering at your thermostat.
What I'm watching on October 13
- The hub itself. Everything else depends on how good it is as a Thread and Matter home base.
- How Apple presents the LG gear. Front and center, or a polite footnote?
- Pricing and timing for the accessories, which are reportedly a few months behind.
- The lock's UWB experience. If "walk up and it opens" really works every time, that's the feature people will tell their friends about.
I'll be watching with coffee in hand and the thermostat set to a very reasonable 70. More once we see the real thing.
Sources
- Bloomberg via The Japan Times, "Apple's smart home push includes doorbell, lock and thermostat codeveloped with LG" (Oct 7, 2026): Read on The Japan Times
- MacRumors, "First Look at LG's Smart Home Products Made With Apple" (Oct 7, 2026): Read on MacRumors
- Gizmodo, "Apple and LG Are Collabing on Smart Home Gadgets" (Oct 7, 2026): Read on Gizmodo
