LG Will Sell the Apple-Designed Lock and Thermostat

Leaked images of an LG deadbolt, thermostat and temperature sensor landed on October 7, and they look like Apple products that forgot the Apple logo. Mark Gurman said Apple helped shape the design, features and engineering. LG will make the gear, put its own name on it, and take the support calls.

Apple’s own hub, a new HomePod mini and a new Apple TV are due on October 13. The LG lock is months behind that date, and U.S. papers cap how many of those UWB deadbolts LG may sell.

Gurman posted the split the day the filings surfaced.

NEW: Apple – in an unusual partnership with LG – is readying a Doorbell, Deadbolt Lock, Thermostat, Indoor Camera, Outdoor Camera, Floodlight Camera and more to rival Amazon and Google as part of its major smart home reboot. https://t.co/38pmnpaRSr pic.twitter.com/x2jUnksGj9

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) October 6, 2026

LG Puts Its Name on Apple’s Home Hardware

Gurman, writing from people familiar with the work, said the two firms co-developed the accessories and that LG is handling manufacturing and product support. Apple and LG spokespeople declined to comment.

He has used this model before with Belkin, part of Foxconn, and with Logitech: Apple helps shape a product that then sells under someone else’s brand. He called the LG version of that playbook fairly unusual for Apple, and said LG had not made this kind of home gear in more than a decade.

The U.S. filings name seven products. None of those papers mention Apple. LG asked regulators to keep photos and finer specs private into early 2027. On the FCC docket, external photos and manuals for the lock sit behind a hold until March 22, 2027.

THE SEVEN LG SKUS

• Video doorbell: LG Video Doorbell Wired, a fixed porch camera rather than a battery puck.
• Floodlight cam: LG Floodlight Cam, light and lens on one outdoor body.
• Outdoor cam: LG Outdoor Cam Plug-In, named for a corded install.
• Indoor cam: LG Indoor Cam Plug-In, LG’s first indoor camera in nearly a decade, per Gurman.
• Deadbolt: LG Smart Deadbolt Lock, the first LG smart lock aimed outside South Korea.
• Thermostat: LG Smart Thermostat, also listed as a recent-history first for the firm.
• Room sensor: LG Temperature Sensor, a separate humidity and temperature puck.

Gurman said many of the devices support Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread and Matter, the shared setup language Apple Home already uses. The lock also carries UWB, so it can confirm you are actually at the door before it pulls the bolt.

The Lock Is Capped at 400,000 Units

A round keypad that auto-unlocks sounds like a mass-market Ring rival. The radio file is narrower. Fixed outdoor UWB is not a normal handheld toy under FCC Part 15, so LG had to ask the Office of Engineering and Technology to waive Sections 15.519(a) and 15.519(a)(2).

THE UWB LOCK CALENDAR

1. March 9, 2026: OET opens ET Docket 26-57 and asks for comment on LG’s UWB door-lock waiver, with comments due April 8 and replies April 23.
2. July 22, 2026: The LG Temperature Sensor, model TMST2A6W, is authorized as FCC ID 2BO3L-TMST2A6W.
3. August 27, 2026: OET adopts DA-26-905 and grants the waiver, with a hard sales lid.
4. August 31, 2026: The LG Smart Thermostat, model TMCTAW5W, is authorized as FCC ID 2BO3L-TMCTAW5W.
5. September 23, 2026: The LG Smart Deadbolt Lock grant issues for model TMCDD15, FCC ID 2BO3L-TMCDD15, under that waiver. A class II change also lands on the thermostat the same day.

Condition 11 of the order is the number that matters for anyone treating this as Apple’s new front-door business. LG may sell no more than 400,000 units in the first three years after certification. The bureau itself translated that to about 133,000 a year. LG must also file yearly interference reports for those three years and be ready to halt sales if OET directs it.

That is not a hobby cap, and it is not Ring scale either. When OET waived the same rules for Lumi United Technology’s Aqara Smart Lock U400 in September 2025, it set a lid of 100,000 units per year. LG’s three-year bucket sits a step above that annual figure, not in a different league.

The grant lists UWB at 7987.2 MHz with 0.0005 watts EIRP, NFC at 13.56 MHz, Bluetooth from 2402 to 2480 MHz, and a 2405 to 2480 MHz path that matches Thread. Labels in the file distinguish Graphite (TMCDD15G) and Silver (TMCDD15S). The waiver exists because a lock lives on a door, not in a hand; BLE checks the credential first, then UWB ranges the phone so a relay attack is harder to run from the driveway.

A Rotating Keypad and a 61 GHz Radar

Leaker pdfu posted the first public look at three of the seven on October 7. The lock’s outside pad is a disc. It rotates to open, and a swivel pin can stop that swing on one side so the pad does not hit a wall. Menus in the leak include Touchpad Light Ring, Door Left Audio Alarm and Lock Sound Volume. The unit supports automatic unlocking, tap to unlock, emergency power and master codes. It fits 2.375 in (60.3 mm) and 2.75 in (69.9 mm) brackets, the two common U.S. backset sizes, and it ships with two mechanical keys.

The thermostat is a round face with a large temperature readout. Settings in the leak include Far Sight Display, Humidity Display, Brightness, Language, plus calibrated temperature and a temperature offset. The radio file is the sharper tell. HCT America’s grant classifies a 61 GHz radar in the thermostat as a Part 15.255 field disturbance sensor, 61 to 61.5 GHz, 0.043 watts EIRP. Antenna exhibits in the same ID also cover Bluetooth, Thread and Wi-Fi. Presence sensing on the wall, not just a setpoint, is the hardware Apple would want next to a hub that is supposed to know who is in the room.

The temperature sensor stays in the same circular family. It reads temperature and humidity, uses a magnetic back on metal, and includes an adhesive metal plate for other surfaces. The leak also describes a replaceable battery with a low-battery alert.

THREE DEVICES IN THE FILINGS

The four cameras have names in LG’s paperwork and no Apple line on the label. Development of the whole LG set has lagged Apple’s own boxes, Gurman said, and the accessories are not expected to reach buyers for at least a few more months.

Why a TV Maker Wanted a Deadbolt

For Apple, the lock is a way to fill HomeKit gaps without running a deadbolt factory or an HVAC help desk. HomeKit launched in 2014 and has trailed Amazon and Google in the rooms that actually have cameras and thermostats. A second-party lock lets Apple tune auto-unlock and Thread behavior while LG eats returns, millwork fitment and the 400,000-unit waiver paperwork.

For LG, the same pile is a U.S. door it has not sold, plus a thermostat, floodlight camera and doorbell it has not fielded in recent history. The company already moved to own more of the home in software. On July 3, 2024, LG said it had acquired an 80 percent stake in Athom, the Dutch firm behind Homey, with a path to the remaining 20 percent within three years.

The acquisition of Athom is a cornerstone for our AI home business.

Jung Ki-hyun, executive vice president, head of LG’s Platform Business Center

Athom stays a separate brand under that deal. Homey Pro, LG said then, can connect to more than 50,000 devices over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Matter and Thread. The Homey App Store held around 1,000 apps, including official ties to Philips Hue and IKEA. Homey already sold in Europe, Australia, Singapore, the United States and Canada as of 2023.

Apple and LG are not strangers. LG Display already feeds screens into Apple products, Apple services run on LG TVs, and the two earlier co-developed monitors after Apple left the standalone display market. The new lock papers still run only in LG’s name, from a Pyeongtaek applicant address, with Yongdeok Kwon as the responsible party.

Schneider Is Already in the Same Table

LG is the loud body in this story. It is not the only one in Apple’s code. On the evening of October 7, pdfu posted that iOS 27.2 holds a HomeKitMatter table named _secondPartyProducts with 10 accessory IDs. Six map to LG, including GEMS-labeled variants of the thermostat, the deadbolt and the temperature sensor. Four map to Schneider: a Schneider Home Smart Thermostat, a QA variant, a Schneider Electric Temperature/Humidity Sensor, and a fourth ID pdfu flagged as maybe another sensor variant.

Matter vendor ID 4142 sits on the LG rows. Vendor ID 4190 sits on the Schneider rows. Only the Schneider thermostat showed placeholder setup assets, with a mention of Proximity Settings. Pdfu wrote that these IDs receive special treatment from the OS, including those setup assets.

That table is how Apple Home can treat a partner lock as more than a generic Matter gadget without putting a bitten apple on the door. It also means the LG line is a supplier class, not a one-off. If you already run Aqara, Nuki or tado on HomeKit, an LG badge is not a reason to rip the old gear out. The special case is the OS-level second-party slot, and Schneider is already standing in it for climate.

Two Keys Still Come in the Box

The loud objection writes itself: a front door that waits on a software update. The leaked kit undercuts that gag with hardware Apple usually hides. The lock still includes two mechanical keys. Emergency power is in the feature list. UWB ranging is there specifically so a copied Bluetooth token in the parking lot is not enough.

The cooler objection is the badge. Interest in an Apple doorbell drops once the faceplate says LG, and people who already have working HomeKit locks see a round keypad, not a new category. Gurman also separated this camera set from Apple’s own privacy-centric home camera and sensor, which he said is coming next year and does not record video. The LG cams are the conventional porch kit. The Apple-branded sensor is a different product on a later clock.

WHAT WE KNOW

• The split: Apple shapes design and engineering; LG brands, builds and supports.
• The date: Apple’s hub, HomePod mini and Apple TV are slated for October 13; the LG set is at least a few months later.
• The cap: UWB lock sales are limited to 400,000 units in the three years after the September 23, 2026 grant.
• The code: iOS 27.2 already lists LG and Schneider rows as second-party Home accessories.

WHAT IS UNCONFIRMED

• Price and pack-ins: No U.S. street price, subscription or camera-storage plan has been stated by either firm.
• October 13 mention: Gurman said the LG gear may still be talked about when the hub appears; Apple has not confirmed an event rundown.
• Apple Home depth: Thread and Matter are in the filings; which buttons, automations and UWB behaviors the Home app will expose is still unstated.
• GEMS variants: Extra Matter IDs exist in the table; what GEMS changes on the plastic is not in the public grants.

Apple still has other home hardware in the distance, including a later hub that puts the screen on a robotic arm and an in-home monitoring service, Gurman has said. Those stay on Apple’s side of the logo line. The deadbolt, the radar thermostat and the plug-in cameras do not.

October 13 Shows the Hub, Not the Door

Tuesday, October 13 is an Apple stage for a hub, a faster HomePod mini and a new Apple TV built around Siri AI. The rotating keypad will not be in that box. LG still has to tool a lock that fits two U.S. backsets, honor a 400,000-unit waiver, and wait out a photo hold that runs to March 22, 2027.

Until those dates move, the object in the leak is the tell. Apple gets the brain with its name on the glass. LG gets the thing you touch on the way into the house, the warranty on a deadbolt, and a U.S. climate and camera line it has not carried in years. The pictures say LG because that is whose problem a stuck bolt is.