Forget the iPhone 18. Apple’s next surprise could be a Face ID doorbell

Apple’s most interesting product this year might not actually be the rumoured satellite-powered iPhone 18. Instead, it could be something that lives on your very own front door.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (via MacRumors), who first mentioned the rumours of a Face ID doorbell back in late 2024, this could be the year that the Cupertino tech giant brings the fight to the likes of the best video doorbells like Ring and co. 

Granted, 2026 is the absolute earliest predicted release window, but in a world where smartphones are making uninspiring, incremental improvements on the whole, any brand-new Apple product in a new category is worth getting hopeful for.

If and when a Face ID doorbell is released, we’d expect it to seamlessly recognise known family and friends, while flagging events like left packages. So far, so ordinary. But the potential to combine Face ID recognition with compatible smartlocks opens up a whole new world of faff-free entry – no keys, no keypads, and no frantically tapping away at an app in the seemingly incessant rain.

Of course, this all reads like a tech fan’s high-reaching wishlist, but if the stars do align, an Apple Face ID-powered doorbell would certainly stand out from the pack, going beyond mere motion alerts and person detection.

As with any Apple-built camera, privacy is also expected to sit front and centre. The device would reportedly support HomeKit Secure Video, meaning encrypted footage processed within Apple’s ecosystem rather than farmed out to third-party platforms.

Details beyond that remain incredibly thin. Pricing, field of view, resolution, and battery setup are all unknown, and no one but Tim Cook and his inner circle knows if it’ll ever see the light of day. For now, watch this space.

Elsewhere, according to MacRumors, the Face ID video doorbell isn’t the only rumoured Apple product that could be revealed this year.

Apple is also said to be preparing a dedicated home hub designed to control smart devices, manage family calendars, handle calls, play music, surface weather updates, and generally act as the centre of your home’s digital life.

Two versions are reportedly in development – one that mounts to a wall, and another built into a speaker base resembling a HomePod Mini.

The hub is expected to include Face ID of its own, presence sensing to detect when someone enters a room, and a camera capable of recognising who is interacting with it to personalise the interface. An A18 chip will reportedly power everything, enabling Apple Intelligence features, while built-in apps would reportedly include Safari, Apple Music, Notes, Calendar, Photos, and Apple News.

If this all lands, then the doorbell (and additionally rumoured security camera), suddenly makes quite a bit of sense.

And if you like your Apple rumours a little more grounded in reality, Apple is widely expected to release the HomePod Mini 2 in the relatively near future.

According to the latest rumours, the design is unlikely to change dramatically, though new colours are apparently on the cards. It’s also tipped to gain an updated S-series chip based on Apple Watch silicon, potentially bringing better audio processing and performance.Bluetooth 5.3 and a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip are also reportedly on the cards.

As with all rumours (and especially Apple ones), this should all be taken with a relatively large bucket of salt. Let’s see what the coming year brings…