An Apple smart doorbell would be a sure-fire winner – for all of us

weekend report suggest one apple Smart home doorbell, support face recognition Under development. It was previously reported that Apple Smart Home Camera next year.

Although it can be said that both are commodities, Apple’s most important contribution is home kit Platform rather than hardware, the opportunity here seems unquestionable…

This is what Apple does

Many of us have been using smart home technology for years, so it’s easy to forget that this is still an early adopter product category.

it is Very It’s not often that I visit a family member’s or friend’s home and find smart home technology there. For most people, it remains the domain of gadget lovers, while the non-technical see it as something mysterious and complex.

What Apple does is take high-tech products and appeal to mass-market consumers.

The iPhone is an obvious example. Before 2007, smartphones were geeky devices with keyboards and stylus, accessible only to the most tech-savvy among us. The iPhone turned it into a mass-market consumer product.

But the company has been doing this for a long time. Macintosh. iPod. iPad. Apple watch. If anyone can make the smart home mainstream, it’s Apple.

HomeKit helps, but doesn’t transform

Apple’s first attempt at this was HomeKit. The idea is that any smart home device can be controlled through a single iPhone app and Siri.

This definitely helps. It does make smart home technology accessible to more people, but it also solves some of the privacy and security issues that have been holding back the market. Additionally, HomeKit demos in Apple stores expose more people to the technology and help demonstrate its usefulness and ease of use.

Apple has also solved the biggest problem with smart home cameras through HomeKit Secure Video. back Numerous security vulnerabilities Even as a major brand, Apple provides a way to ensure that others (not even Apple) can access the footage.

In an ideal world, that would be enough, and Apple could leave the hardware to other companies. In practice, however, HomeKit only advanced something to a certain extent: it didn’t succeed in making the smart home mainstream.

But Apple-branded devices will succeed

The average non-technical person knows nothing about HomeKit security standards, but they do trust Apple. So if Apple starts selling smart home hardware — especially scarier stuff like cameras and locks — then Way More people will be happy to buy it.

When reports surfaced last month about Apple-branded smart home cameras, More than 80% of people Said you might buy one.

Smart doorbells certainly fall under the general category of smart home cameras, so it’s possible that Kuo and Gurman are both referring to the same plan. However, if Apple Do Going into this, then it doesn’t make sense to me to do this with a single device. I suspect we’re looking at potential plans for exterior security cameras, interior cameras, and Smart doorbell.

The latest report suggests that Apple’s doorbell may work with any existing HomeKit-compatible smart lock, but also suggests that the company may work with a company to provide a complete system. This approach makes sense given that smart locks and smart doorbells offer the most obvious integration opportunities (such as Face ID on the doorbell camera triggering the smart lock to open).

Apple famously rejects a thousand ideas for every idea it develops, so brand collaborations are probably what’s needed most. Maybe a co-branded smart lock, like Apple and Yale’s brands.

But a co-branded smart doorbell seems unlikely. It’s not like any Existing smart camera brands shine here!

For this reason alone, I expect any camera Apple makes to carry only the company’s own branding. but it’s possible Incorporate Apple Intelligence functionality Come to an agreement.

In addition, although existing smart locks have face recognition functions, I don’t believe that any Which is how much I trust Face ID.

It’s a win for all of us

For Apple and non-technical people alike, the potential benefits are obvious. But I think we’ll all benefit from this.

The more mainstream the smart home becomes, and the more Apple focuses on security and privacy issues, the better the technology will become for all of us, techies and newbies alike. I’d love to see this happen.

image: google nest