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Twelve New Designs in Six Weeks: Why I Love the new Apple under John Ternus
For fifteen years, Apple was the friend who shows up to the party an hour late and then insists it brought the best snacks. Tim Cook even had a motto for it, saying Apple was perfectly fine with not being first. Then John Ternus took over on September 1, and the snack table got crowded fast. In six weeks Apple has revealed the foldable iPhone Duo, a HomeView smart display in tabletop and wall-mounted versions, and nine smart home accessories. That makes twelve fresh designs, a wild number for a company that used to agonize over one hinge.
HomeView and the foldable will get the splashy coverage, but the real fun is the smart home gear. LG Electronics and Schneider Electric helped Apple build a video doorbell, a floodlight cam, outdoor and indoor cams, a deadbolt, two thermostats, and two sensors. They start arriving in December, with prices running from $39.95 for a sensor to $399.95 for the floodlight cam. Apple’s fingerprints are all over them, from the aluminum to the black glass to the rounded shapes. I am here to tell you why that deserves a small celebration.
Designers: LG and Schneider for Apple
The ROKR Taught Apple to Keep the Design and Rent the Factory
In September 2005, Steve Jobs launched the Motorola ROKR E1, a rebadged Motorola phone with an iTunes button and a cap of 100 songs. The demo stumbled and the phone flopped. Jobs looked pained onstage, and you can see why, since Apple’s software was riding around in someone else’s hardware. Roughly sixteen months later he unveiled the iPhone. The ROKR was a stepping stone he needed, taken at exactly the moment he needed it.
Ternus gets to run that play with the lesson already learned. Bloomberg reports that Apple shaped the design, features, and engineering of the LG gear, while LG handles manufacturing and support. The ROKR was Motorola’s design wearing Apple’s software. This is Apple’s design wearing LG’s factory. Ternus joined Apple in 2001, so he watched the ROKR saga from the inside, and the LG deal likely began on Cook’s watch but ships under Ternus, which puts it in his column.
Nine Products, One Family Look From Two Different Companies
Line up the lock, camera, thermostat, and doorbell from Apple’s photo and the family resemblance is hard to miss. The Smart Deadbolt pairs a black glass keypad with a pill-shaped aluminum plate, and the Video Doorbell is an aluminum column capped in black glass. The Indoor Cam’s round head swivels on a chrome pivot that echoes the hinge on HomeView. The big 68 on the thermostat belongs to Schneider, yet it shares the same soft rounded-square body. Two companies, one look.
The Indoor Cam physically tilts down to stop watching the moment the first person gets home, which is the friendliest privacy gesture I have seen on a camera. The doorbell carries a 2.5K front camera plus a 1080p lens aimed at the doorstep for packages. The deadbolt uses Ultra Wideband (a precise short-range radio) to unlock as you walk up with your iPhone or Apple Watch, and it keeps working without internet. Everything sets up with one tap on your iPhone. There is no extra app and no extra account.
Ternus Ships What Is Ready Instead of Waiting for Perfect
Cook’s way was to wait until Apple could do it perfectly, and the home hub paid for it, slipping from spring 2025 while Siri caught up. Ternus, per Bloomberg, wants Apple to ship faster, experiment more, and spread launches through the year instead of two big events. HomeView still waited for Siri AI, so the rulebook did not change overnight. What changed is that the wait no longer stalls everything around it. The doorbell, lock, cameras, and thermostats are ready now, and Apple is shipping them.
The Home Collection starts at $39.95 for a sensor, with the lock at $349.95 and the floodlight cam topping out at $399.95. It arrives in December in the U.S. and Canada, the cameras and doorbell are also heading to the UK, and select items slip to early 2027. You can see the full lineup in Apple’s Home Collection announcement. Cook’s Apple was the friend who showed up late with the best snacks. Ternus’s Apple shows up on time, brings the snacks, and even has gluten-free options because he listened to his audience.
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