Apple Home Collection Launches in December: Every Product, Price, and Why the $299 Apple TV Has People Talking

Apple is finally getting serious about the smart home. On October 13, the company announced Apple Home Collection, a full lineup of cameras, a video doorbell, a smart deadbolt lock, thermostats and sensors designed with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric. Everything arrives in December, with select accessories following in early 2027. The prices run from $39.95 for a temperature sensor to $399.95 for a floodlight camera, and the same day brought a $299 Apple TV 4K, a $149 HomePod mini 2, and a $299 Apple HomeView smart display. Home theater forums did not take the pricing quietly.

Bloomberg had scooped the LG partnership a week earlier, reporting on October 6 that Apple was co-developing the accessories with LG, which would manufacture and support them under its own brand while Apple led design and engineering. That is essentially what Apple announced, with Schneider Electric joining LG on the thermostats.

What is launching and what it costs

The lineup, with Apple's own starting prices in the U.S.:

• LG Video Doorbell (wired): $249.95. Dual cameras, one 2.5K for visitors and one full HD for packages, plus a built-in spotlight and a chime that plays through HomeView, HomePod or HomePod mini.
• LG Floodlight Cam: $399.95. Adaptive dual floodlights that trigger on motion, with low-light color night vision.
• LG Outdoor Cam (plug-in): $299.95.
• LG Indoor Cam (plug-in): $199.95. Tilts up and away automatically when the first household member returns, a privacy-first take on the indoor camera.
• LG Smart Deadbolt Lock: $349.95. Ultra Wideband auto-unlock as you approach with a home key on iPhone or Apple Watch, plus tap-to-unlock, a PIN pad and a hidden backup key slot. It senses opened, closed and tampered states.
• LG Smart Thermostat: $199.95. LG Temperature Sensor: $39.95.
• Schneider Home Smart Thermostat: $199.95. Schneider Home Room Sensor: $39.95.

Cameras and the doorbell will be sold in the U.S., Canada and the UK. The lock, thermostats and sensors are U.S. and Canada only. None of the collection is coming to Australia at launch.

Apple's pitch is the setup and privacy story: one tap with an iPhone, everything managed in the Home app with no separate app or account, and end-to-end encryption that Apple says neither it, LG nor Schneider Electric can read. Every device supports Thread, the lock and thermostats are Matter compatible, and the lock also supports Aliro and works locally without internet. Camera clips get up to 10 days of event history through HomeKit Secure Video, but note the fine print: that requires a supported iCloud+ plan, so the "no separate camera subscription" claim assumes you already pay Apple for iCloud+.

The other October 13 announcements

Three more products arrived the same day:

• Apple HomeView: $299, in tabletop and wall-mounted versions at the same price. Pre-orders opened October 13, on sale November 13. The wall model needs a Schneider Home mount sold separately, from $59.95, which makes a real-world wall install closer to $360 before installation. HomeView is not sold in the EU, because Siri AI is currently unavailable in iOS there.
• Apple TV 4K (fourth generation): $299, a single 128GB configuration, on sale November 13. It adds an A19 chip, three far-field microphones for hands-free Siri AI, Wi-Fi 7 and four-speaker HomePod surround.
• HomePod mini 2: $149, in stores October 30, with a faster S10 chip and new colors. Siri AI arrives in a future software update, not at launch.

Apple Retail is also offering third-party installation from ADT for an additional charge in the U.S. starting this fall, which is worth knowing if the doorbell and lock installs are outside your comfort zone.

The backlash: a doubled streaming box

The loudest complaints are about the Apple TV 4K. The third-generation model launched at $129 for 64GB and $149 for 128GB; Apple raised those to $199 and $249 in June 2026, according to TidBITS, and now the fourth generation is $299 for 128GB. That is roughly double the 128GB launch price and $50 above the June price.

In a ResetEra thread that ran past 470 posts, commenters repeatedly called out the $299 box for still lacking 4K 120Hz output and HDMI audio passthrough, alongside the price jump. That is community criticism of the product, not an Apple spec-sheet admission, but it is clearly the sticking point for home theater buyers. The HomePod mini 2's $149 price also drew grumbles next to the original's $99 launch price from 2020 (later raised to $129).

Price-value check: Apple versus Ring and Eufy

How does the collection stack up against what you can already buy?

At the door: LG's wired Video Doorbell at $249.95 against Eufy's Video Doorbell E340 at $179.99, Eufy's own listed price for a dual-camera doorbell with 8GB of local storage and no subscription. The LG doorbell costs about $70 more, roughly 39% above the Eufy, and its case rests on 2.5K resolution, Apple Home integration and HomeKit Secure Video rather than local storage.

At the lock: LG's Smart Deadbolt at $349.95 against Ring's new Smart Lock at $249, announced October 7 by Amazon with a fingerprint reader, keypad, Alexa control and a hand-powered dial that recharges a dead battery, due in early 2027. The LG lock is about $101 more, roughly 41% above Ring's, and the trade is protocols: LG speaks Matter and UWB and works locally; Ring runs on Amazon Sidewalk with no mention of Matter in Amazon's announcement, per Local Smart Home Guide's reading of it.

The honest summary: Apple's collection costs more than the mainstream alternatives in nearly every category, and the premium buys you one-tap iPhone setup, Matter and Thread throughout, and the promise that your camera footage never leaves Apple's encryption. If you are not deep in the Apple ecosystem, the Eufy and Ring equivalents are meaningfully cheaper. If you are, that is exactly the tax you were already paying.

The protocol news around it

Two adjacent developments are worth a line. Philips Hue released lamp firmware 1.164.2 on October 5, per Local Smart Home Guide, for its newer hardware platform, adding "Zigbee and Matter concurrency in bridgeless mode," per Philips Hue's release notes as quoted by Hueblog. In practice, newer Hue bulbs can now speak Zigbee and Matter over Thread at the same time. And Ring's first smart lock, described above, makes the opposite bet: Sidewalk only, with Amazon's announcement naming Ring, Echo and Alexa compatibility and no Matter at all. The smart home is converging on Matter, but not everyone is converging at the same speed.

Frequently asked questions

When does Apple Home Collection ship? Availability for all products begins in December, Apple says, with select accessories following in early 2027. Apple has not said which ones slip to 2027.

What does it cost? From $39.95 for a temperature or room sensor to $399.95 for the floodlight camera. A doorbell and a deadbolt together start at $599.90.

Do I need an Apple hub? A compatible home hub such as HomeView, HomePod or Apple TV is required for some features, including camera recording and remote access. An iPhone running the latest software is required for setup.

Does it work with my existing HomeKit devices? Yes. The collection builds on Works with Apple Home and Matter accessories, so it sits alongside whatever you already have in the Home app.

Is it available in Australia? The HomeView, HomePod mini 2 and Apple TV 4K are (A$449, A$229 and A$449 respectively), but Apple Home Collection itself is not coming to Australia at launch.

Does the camera footage need a subscription? You need a supported iCloud+ plan for the 10-day event history. Apple frames that as no separate camera subscription, which is true only if you already pay for iCloud+.

What was the October 6 Bloomberg report? Bloomberg reported on October 6 that Apple had co-developed a smart home lineup with LG, which would build, brand and support the devices while Apple led design and engineering. Apple's October 13 announcement confirmed the partnership and added Schneider Electric on thermostats.

Organizing the entryway around a new doorbell and lock? Our entryway organization guide for small homes covers making the most of the space by the front door.