Apple Home: AI is Coming, But Google and Ring Do It Better

Apple deploys Apple Intelligence in HomeKit Secure Video, featuring text descriptions, natural language search, and event sorting. Reported trials compare these new features to Ring and Nest: Apple's service is more expensive, but the alerts are less detailed and facial recognition is less reliable.

A more expensive subscription with less accurate alerts

Google Nest and Amazon Ring offer text descriptions, video search, and alerts for $20 per month, with Google providing coverage for an unlimited number of cameras. Apple Intelligence comes at higher prices for comparable services. According to Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, notifications from Google and Ring provide more context and detail than those from Apple, which often remain vague, using terms like "someone." In terms of facial recognition, Ring proved to be the most reliable during trials, while Apple and Google yielded variable results. Ring consistently identified the user's presence, while Apple sometimes indicated "someone who might be Jennifer Pattison Tuohy." Jennifer Pattison Tuohy finds Apple's features promising but believes they have not yet reached the level of Google and Amazon. She emphasizes that the quality of descriptions and the accuracy of identification need to improve to justify the price.

What Apple Home AI can do today

Apple Intelligence is now integrated into HomeKit Secure Video. Compatible cameras can send text descriptions of events in the Apple Home app, such as "A dog is sitting on the floor," "A cat is playing in the room," or "Someone delivered a package." The service also allows for natural language video searches, highlights notable events, merges relevant clips, and reduces the number of notifications to limit unnecessary alerts.

Required hardware and protocol: three doorbells in focus

To use Apple Intelligence in the smart home, an iCloud Plus subscription, a compatible HomeKit Secure Video camera, an Apple Home Hub running tvOS 27, and an AI-compatible iPhone running iOS 27 are required. iCloud Plus plans are offered at $9.99 per month for 2 TB and one camera, $29.99 for 6 TB and two cameras, and $59.99 for 12 TB for up to five cameras. The tests primarily included three models of video doorbells: the Ring Wired Doorbell Pro at $249.99, the Google Nest Doorbell 2K at $199.99, and the Aqara Doorbell Camera G400 at $99. The speed of notifications, accuracy of descriptions, and consistency of activity alerts were evaluated. The AI capabilities represent a significant advancement over traditional alerts.