Apple reportedly building J450 smart home camera that won't record video
The Verge reports that Mark Gurman said, in the first episode of the Power On podcast, that Apple is developing a smart home security camera that gives users only text descriptions of events instead of video footage. Gurman described it as part of "a new Apple smart home ecosystem", alongside Apple's rumored smart home hub. With the hub rumored to launch next month, The Verge notes, a privacy-protecting camera could arrive with it.
Gurman said Apple is also building home security products, both first-party and third-party. The biggest one, in his words, is a program called J450, an offshoot and companion product to the J490 smart home display. These are little cameras to put around the house. They have a very low frame rate and look like a cylinder, which he likened to a giant metal chapstick.
What that means in practice, according to Gurman: no video recording. It is a sensor that cannot actually pull in real video footage, and it analyzes the environment in and around the home using AI. He adds that the camera will have facial recognition for things like detecting when someone enters a room, but that "You’re not getting anything but text descriptions. There’s nothing you can do with it. There’s no video recording."
Gurman also says the camera uses "a very similar technology" to what Apple is reportedly developing for a pair of AirPods with cameras, which leaked earlier this year.
The Verge adds its own reasoning. Instead of something like mmWave for presence sensing, an image sensor with AI embedded that processes everything on-device, like Sony's IMX500 sensors, could work without passing images that would need to be stored and secured. It also points out that Apple Home already has a "Detect Activity" setting for HomeKit Secure Video cameras that stops video streaming and recording but keeps tracking motion, which is similar to what Gurman describes.
Key facts
- Mark Gurman said on the first episode of the Power On podcast that Apple is developing a smart home camera under the internal program name J450.
- The camera reportedly gives users only text event descriptions: no video recording, and a sensor that cannot pull in real video footage.
- Gurman describes small cylinder-shaped cameras with a very low frame rate, a companion to the J490 smart home display, with facial recognition for things like detecting when someone enters a room.
- He says it uses "a very similar technology" to what Apple is reportedly developing for AirPods with cameras.
- Apple has not confirmed any of this; the hub is rumored for next month, and no date or price is given for the camera.
Why it matters
Home cameras normally mean stored video that has to be secured. The rumored J450 would take the opposite approach: AI analyzes the scene and the user gets only text event descriptions, with no video recording. The Verge says an image sensor with AI embedded that processes everything on-device could work without passing images that would need to be stored and secured. Gurman also says Apple is building home security products, both first-party and third-party, as part of a new smart home ecosystem.
Who it affects
Apple smart home users are the obvious audience, since the camera is described as a companion to the J490 smart home display and part of a rumored ecosystem with a smart home hub. Gurman says Apple is building both first-party and third-party home security products, so makers of third-party products are in the picture too. People who want footage to review later would get only text descriptions, according to Gurman: "There's nothing you can do with it."
How to use it
There is nothing to use yet. No release date, price or product name for the camera is given; J450 is an internal program name. Only the hub is rumored for next month, and no launch date for the camera itself is stated. Gurman describes the intended use as small cameras to put around the house. For a comparison available today, the Verge points to the Detect Activity setting in Apple Home for HomeKit Secure Video cameras, which stops video streaming and recording but continues tracking motion.
How solid is it
Thin. Everything rests on Gurman's remarks on the Power On podcast as relayed by The Verge, and Apple has not confirmed any of it. The J450 and J490 names, the cylinder shape and the low frame rate are all his description. The link to the AirPods-with-cameras technology is also his claim, and those AirPods are themselves a reported leak. The Sony IMX500 and the mmWave comparison are The Verge's own illustration, not something the source says Apple will use.
Risks and caveats
No technical specifications are given (resolution, a frame rate figure, the sensor Apple would use, battery or connectivity), and the source does not say what the text descriptions will look like or how they are delivered. Gurman says the camera will have facial recognition, which sits alongside the no-video privacy pitch and is not elaborated on. Plans can change before launch, and the timing is unknown.
“You’re not getting anything but text descriptions. There’s nothing you can do with it. There’s no video recording.”
— Mark Gurman, on the Power On podcast, as reported by The Verge