It is no secret that Apple wants to focus more and more on Smart Home products. We can expect homeOS later this year and possibly also a Smart Home Hub. New rumors indicate that Apple may start producing its own smart cameras in 2026.
The market for Smart Home cameras is large. For example, the Eufy security cameras, Arlo camera and the Hue Secure camera are popular. However, Apple believes that the market is not yet saturated and they want to release their own smart IP camera in the long term.
Apple Smart Home Camera
The reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reports on Medium that Apple is currently busy developing its own Smart Home IP camera that works via the internet. Production is expected to start in 2026 and may hit the market later that year or early 2027.
Details unknown
Apart from this information, few details are known about Apple’s own IP cameras. Naturally, this camera can be linked to HomeKit and use HomeKit Secure video.
Of course, Apple can tailor their cameras precisely to the integration within the Apple ecosystem. This includes smart notifications, protection of personal data and more.
What is HomeKit Secure Video?
To secure recordings, Apple has developed HomeKit Secure Video (HKSV), a secure alternative for the online storage of camera images. With HomeKit Secure Video, footage captured by your cameras is analyzed and encrypted locally on your home hub (HomePod, Apple TV or iPad) and uploaded securely to iCloud.
Only the owner and contacts who have been invited can view the saved images. Apple itself does not have a key and therefore has no access to the stored images.
HomeKit Secure Video not only provides encryption but also gives you a number of extra functions. For example, this can analyze whether there are people, pets, cars or packages in the picture.
Using the privacy settings, you determine when the HomeKit camera should be allowed to stream, record or be turned off. You can view the recorded and saved recordings from the Home app for iOS and macOS.
Smart doorbell with Face ID
In a recent one newsletter from Mark Gurman It is stated that Apple is developing a smart doorbell camera. This would even include Face ID that makes it possible to unlock a door lock. The camera could not hit the market until the end of 2025 at the earliest, but a later date is even more likely.
The camera would work in the same way as the Face ID function on an iPhone or iPad. As soon as a resident’s biometric data is recognized, the smart door lock is opened. Whether this will be an Apple door lock is unknown, but it may work with smart locks that support matter such as Nuki and SwitchBot.