Apple has sold the speakers and the Apple TV box that can act as the brain of a connected home for years, but it has not offered its own locks, cameras, doorbells or thermostats, the parts you actually fit to a door or a wall. That is reportedly about to change, and for Malaysian households already using Apple's Home app, it is worth knowing what is coming and what is still some way off.
According to a Bloomberg report by Mark Gurman, covered by TechCrunch, Apple is reported to introduce a long-rumoured smart home hub on 13 October. None of it is confirmed by Apple yet. In that reporting the hub is described as having a display of around six inches that can sit on a counter or mount on a wall, arriving with an updated Apple TV and a new HomePod mini.
The bigger shift is a hardware tie-up with LG. 9to5Mac reports that LG would build a set of Apple-connected devices that fill the gaps Apple has never sold itself: a wired video doorbell, indoor and outdoor cameras, a floodlight camera, a smart deadbolt lock, a smart thermostat and a temperature sensor. Several of the devices are reported to support Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread and Matter rather than a closed, Apple-only connection, with the lock also adding ultra-wideband for proximity unlocking. The same reporting says the LG devices are not expected to reach buyers for at least a few more months, with product approvals still in progress.
What Apple's smart home push means in Malaysia
For Malaysian readers, the interesting part is less the gadgets and more the plumbing. Apple's Home app already works here, and Apple sells the HomePod, HomePod mini and Apple TV that act as home hubs. What it has not sold is its own door locks, cameras and sensors, so anyone building an Apple-controlled home has had to rely on third-party accessories. A display-first hub, plus a matching set of LG-built devices designed around it, would change that.
Two things make this land differently than the headline suggests. First, many of the devices are reported to support Matter, the cross-brand standard, which in principle lets smart-home gear work beyond a single company's ecosystem, in a market where other systems such as Samsung's SmartThings are also available. Second, LG already sells televisions and appliances in Malaysia, so the company building this gear with Apple is a familiar name in local shops.
The catch is timing. There is no Malaysian launch date for any of it, and Apple and LG have not confirmed the programme at all. Even the reported schedule puts the LG locks and cameras at least a few months out anywhere, and many wireless consumer devices sold in Malaysia need certification under MCMC rules, normally through SIRIM, before they go on sale. Since the hub is reported for this month while the LG kit is months out even abroad, the Apple pieces look likely to arrive here before the LG security devices, though Apple often varies availability by market. That order is our reading, not an announced plan.
Until now Apple has only supported doorbells, cameras and locks made by other brands through its Home platform; this would be a set built in partnership with Apple, though still carrying LG's branding. Globally, Amazon's Ring and Google's Nest have long sold doorbells and cameras of their own, even if neither is formally sold in Malaysia. Apple's broader selling point has leaned on privacy, a theme in our coverage of its recent Mac security changes, and whether that is enough in the home will depend on pricing, which none of the reports include.
For now, 13 October is the date to watch, if the reports hold, for the hub, the Apple TV and the HomePod mini. The LG locks and cameras, the pieces that would make an Apple home here feel complete, are reported to be at least a few months from release anywhere.
Images courtesy of Alan J. Hendry and rc.xyz NFT gallery on Unsplash.
