Apple could launch a smart security camera in 2026

It appears Apple’s rumored push into the smart home will include an Apple smart security camera. Supply-chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reports the company is planning to start production of a smart home IP camera in 2026 and aims to sell over 10 million units a year.

Kuo also reports that the camera is “designed to integrate seamlessly with other Apple hardware products via wireless connectivity” and speculates it will integrate deeply with Apple Intelligence and Apple’s Siri voice assistant.

Apple’s competitors, Amazon and Google, both have first-party security camera hardware products for their respective smart home platforms and have already started integrating generative AI. Amazon’s Ring launched a new AI search feature in October, and Google announced Gemini-powered features coming to its Nest cameras. With generative AI, smart home cameras have the potential to go beyond just a security device and provide context for your smart home, for example, by knowing who is at the house and when.

Security cameras make a lot of sense as Apple looks to the smart home for its next big hardware hit. They’re among the fastest-growing device types in the home, have obvious benefits and potential uses in every household, not just single-family residences, and offer the biggest opportunity for ecosystem lock-in of all the smart home device categories.

For example, if you have an Apple Home security camera, you’d benefit from also having additional Apple devices, such as a HomePod or Apple TV to act as a home hub for recording footage and streaming a live view to an Apple TV. This is also where a rumored Apple Smart Display would fit neatly into the picture.

Additionally, along with revenue from premium hardware, cameras offer potential ongoing revenue from subscriptions. Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video service (HKSV), which is included in Apple’s iCloud plan, stores recorded footage from cameras securely on the iCloud account — the number of cameras covered depends on your subscription, going up as high as $11 a month. The service also requires an Apple Home Hub, such as a HomePod or AppleTV, which can analyze footage and send you specific alerts for people, animals, vehicles, and packages.

Currently, Apple’s smart home platform, Apple Home, supports integration with third-party cameras from several companies for live streaming footage to the app, but only a handful of cameras support HKSV, including models from Aqara, Eve, and Logitech. Many other popular companies in this space, such as Ring, Arlo, and Blink, don’t work with HKSV, preferring instead to use their own subscription services for recorded video and smart alerts.

The other question is what type of camera Apple will start with: an indoor camera like the Eve Cam, an indoor/outdoor camera like the Logitech Circle View, an outdoor camera like the Eve Floodlight Cam, or a video doorbell like the WeMo Smart Video Doorbell.

It’s perhaps surprising that Apple is only now moving into developing smart home devices. While the original intent of Apple HomeKit was to provide a software framework for third-party manufacturers, ten years later, there are still relatively few devices that work with Apple’s smart home platform.

This is one reason Apple helped develop the new smart home standard Matter, which was built on some of the foundations of HomeKit, including its focus on security. Matter is now the main infrastructure for Apple Home and it has already started to bring more products into the ecosystem. With support for security cameras in Matter possibly arriving next year, a new Apple Home camera from Cupertino landing around the same time would make sense.