Apple is reportedly building a smart home camera that won't record video

Apple is reportedly working on a smart home security camera that will not record video, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The device would instead use AI to analyze activity in the home without filming it, Engadget reports.

Gurman, who said earlier this week that Apple's long-awaited home hub could arrive later in October, predicted in the debut episode of his new Power On podcast that a security camera may follow. He also claims the company will launch more powerful versions of the HomePod mini and Apple TV, both of which will support the new Siri AI ecosystem.

A camera that doesn't capture footage

The camera is a companion product to Apple's as-yet unannounced smart home display, which the company refers to internally as J490. According to Gurman, the small cylindrical cameras, which resemble a chapstick, can be installed around the home, will have a very low frame rate and will not offer video recording as a feature.

How it works

Instead of capturing moving images, the sensor uses AI to analyze movement in the home. It will also be able to do facial recognition: if the camera identifies someone walking into a room, it can notify the user whether they know that person, but only through text descriptions. It is not clear whether still images can be pulled from the device at all.

Why it matters

A total lack of video footage probably won't be particularly helpful to the police in the event of a break-in, but the added layer of privacy could make Apple's camera stand out in a crowded market, at a time of growing concerns about over-surveillance and what happens to the data such devices collect.

Gurman added that the camera will use technology very similar to the camera-equipped AirPods that leaked over the summer. Based on code buried in an early build of macOS Tahoe 26.7, each of those AirPods will have its own tiny embedded camera that takes extremely low-resolution RGB still images for analysis with Visual Intelligence, and reportedly won't be able to take pictures or record video, following the criticism around Meta's camera glasses.