Apple's smart home camera reportedly will not record any video

[Mitchell93]

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has shared more details on Apple's upcoming smart home camera, codenamed J450, on his Power On podcast. The surprising part is that it reportedly will not record video for playback at all. Instead, it uses a low frame rate camera, facial recognition and infrared sensors to work out who and what is in a room. It then gives you insights about activity rather than footage

Privacy is the whole point. Ring and Google Nest cameras record and store video, which raises obvious concerns about who can see it. Apple's approach would use the camera to understand the room without keeping a record of what happened. Gurman says it will have no video recording, which also sets it apart from Apple's existing HomeKit Secure Video system

The examples are about automation rather than security. The camera could recognise when someone enters or leaves a room, turn off lights in empty rooms, or change the music depending on who is home. It could also tell people apart from pets. That is closer to a presence sensor than a traditional camera

It is expected to arrive in 2027, after the HomePad smart display that is due this month, which we discussed earlier in the week. Apple is building out a whole smart home range, with a new HomePod mini and Apple TV also in the works. There are reports that Apple is developing a home security and monitoring service too. How that fits with a camera that cannot record is not clear

The obvious limitation is that you would have no footage after a break in or a stolen parcel. That might put off people who want a security camera. But as a smart presence sensor, it could be clever. Would you prefer a camera that never records? Or is footage the main reason to have one?

Apple's smart home camera reportedly won't record videowww.theapplepost.com