LG Building Smart Home Devices for Apple’s Home Hub
LG Is Building the Accessories Apple Won’t Make Itself
Apple’s long-rumored smart home hub is expected to arrive on October 13 alongside a new Apple TV 4K and a new HomePod mini. But hardware alone doesn’t make a smart home — and according to Bloomberg, Apple has enlisted an unlikely partner to fill out the rest of the ecosystem: LG Electronics is developing a lineup of smart home accessories designed to work with Apple’s upcoming home devices.
Mark Gurman reported on October 6 that the LG-built lineup includes a wired video doorbell, a smart thermostat, a smart deadbolt lock, a temperature sensor, an indoor security camera, an outdoor security camera, and a floodlight camera. Regulatory documents LG submitted to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and UL Solutions reveal product names including the LG Video Doorbell Wired, LG Smart Thermostat, LG Smart Deadbolt Lock, LG Temperature Sensor, LG Indoor Cam Plug-In, LG Outdoor Cam Plug-In, and LG Floodlight Cam. Apple is not named in the filings, and LG asked the FCC to keep the details confidential.
Despite the LG branding, Bloomberg says Apple helped develop the devices. The accessories will reportedly be built and sold by LG, with LG handling manufacturing and product support — while Apple shapes the design and engineering behind the scenes.
The “Second-Party Supplier” Playbook
Bloomberg describes the arrangement as a “second-party supplier” strategy: Apple gets to expand its smart home ecosystem quickly without shouldering the full cost and complexity of producing and supporting a wide range of accessories. Apple can tailor the products’ features and oversee engineering while keeping most of the work out of the public eye.
The approach makes sense. Accessories like doorbells, locks, and cameras are a very different business from iPhones and Macs — they involve low margins, long support cycles, and installation headaches. By letting LG carry the products under its own brand, Apple keeps its ecosystem growing while LG handles the dirty work of manufacturing, warranties, and customer support.
It also explains the timing. Apple’s own hardware — the home hub, new Apple TV 4K, and new HomePod mini — is expected within days, on October 13. The LG accessories are running behind and aren’t expected to reach consumers for several more months, according to the report. Apple needed a partner who could move fast on accessories it never intended to build itself.
What the Devices Will Support
Several of LG’s devices reportedly support Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread, and Matter, with the smart deadbolt lock also offering ultra-wideband (UWB) support for close-proximity auto-unlocking. That UWB detail is potentially the most interesting of all: it could let an iPhone or Apple Watch act as a precise digital key, unlocking the door as an authorized device approaches — more accurate than Bluetooth alone, which can only tell whether a phone is connected, not whether it’s actually at the door.
The connectivity choices matter beyond Apple, too. Because the devices support Thread and Matter, they should work across ecosystems — not just with the Apple home hub, but with Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, and other Matter-compatible platforms. For LG, which bought a majority stake in the smart home platform Homey in 2024, the lineup looks like a broader bid to compete with Samsung SmartThings, Amazon Ring, and Google Nest, not just a favor to Apple.
Why LG?
LG is not a name most people associate with smart home accessories. But Apple and LG have a long working relationship: LG Display supplies components for Apple’s devices, and when Apple stopped selling its own displays, it teamed up with LG on 4K and 5K UltraFine monitors built specifically for Macs.
The Homey acquisition is the other half of the picture. LG has been quietly building its smart home ambitions for two years, and co-developing hardware with Apple gives it instant credibility and a technical head start in Thread and Matter devices. Apple, in turn, gets a partner that can ship real hardware without Apple having to run a doorbell business.
What This Means for Smart Home Shoppers
If you’re deep in the Apple ecosystem, the next few months could finally give you a first-party-quality smart home lineup without leaving HomeKit. A doorbell, lock, and cameras that were co-designed with Apple — even if they carry LG branding — would likely offer tighter integration with the Home app and the new home hub than anything from third-party HomeKit partners.
There are caveats. The devices are still months away, and nothing has been formally announced — all of this comes from a single Bloomberg report backed by FCC and UL filings. Prices, exact features, and whether the devices also carry Apple’s Works with Apple HomeKit branding remain unknown.
Still, the strategy itself is the story. Apple has historically kept unreleased hardware under extreme secrecy, and working through a partner gives it another layer of separation from public filings. If the LG partnership works, expect more of it: Apple steering product design while partners build, brand, and support the accessories. For anyone betting on Matter and Thread as the future of the smart home, the arrival of co-designed Apple ecosystem accessories is another sign that the standards bet is paying off.