Apple’s next smart home adventure could be a doorbell with Face ID

By Nadeem Sarwar Published December 22, 2024

In the wake of canceling its hyped car project, a hard setback with an iPhone subscription service, and delays with AI feature rollout, it seems Apple has found a new sweet spot for product development in the smart home segment. According to Bloomberg, the company is working on a smart doorbell with Face ID authentication support.

Apple is already rumored to be working on an iPad-like smart home device that will serve as a home hub for other connected devices as well. Now, the folks over at Cupertino are eyeing a niche that will integrate well within the HomeKit portfolio.

Bloomberg’s report describes it as a “smart doorbell with advanced facial recognition that wirelessly connects to a deadbolt lock.” The concept is pretty straightforward. Apple aims to bring its fast and reliable biometric authentication convenience to a doorbell.

At the moment, the segment is dominated by the likes of Amazon, Google, Eufy, and Logitech. The Nest Doorbell and Amazon Blink, in particular, often find their way to the top of the recommendation list for buyers. It’s, therefore, no surprise why Apple would want to flex its way into the fray, especially when it has the tech stack, talent, and supply chain at its disposal.

Now, the Face ID-ready doorbell project is in the early stages of development, which means its market arrival is neither close nor certain. According to a report that cites internal sources, enthusiasts should not expect to see anything on the market by the end of the year — at the earliest.

There is another probability. Instead of developing a hardware product of its own, Apple could very well outsource it to a third-party partner like Logitech or Belkin. That wouldn’t be surprising. Take, for example, the Vision Pro, which sells a head strap for the headset straight from Apple’s online store.

The upcoming device could be yet another host for the company’s in-house combined chip for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, which is reportedly making a debut in 2025 with the refreshed HomePod Mini and Apple TV models. The chip is apparently code-named Proxima and will reportedly be made by longtime partner TSMC.

Now, a smart doorbell sounds like an obvious step in the right direction and could stand out with its facial recognition perk. Notably, the company already has the infrastructure ready (and is rapidly developing it with upcoming products) with a software stack in HomeKit that has already been embraced by various brands.

In addition, the upcoming home hub device that borrows from the iPad aesthetics will also run software that will connect with a whole bunch of other devices. It will also tap into the FaceTime system for videoconferencing. It won’t be surprising to see it play nice with the upcoming smart doorbell camera via its video relay lane.

There are, however, a handful of concerns with the doorbell endeavor. Chief among them are chances of failure, especially when it comes to the possibility of an intruder somehow making it past the guardrails. The recent cases of abuse involving the AirTag tracker by bad actors is an example of one such scenario.

Apple has traditionally played it safe when it comes to user privacy and safety and has tried to skirt past such controversies to the best of its capabilities. So, there is a high chance that the company takes its own sweet time bringing the smart doorbell to the market or simply decides to offload the whole premise to other brands while milking royalty.