Apple’s next camera might not record any video

Apple is reportedly building a smart home camera that tracks what happens in your house, but records zero video.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman on the Power On podcast, Apple is developing a small security sensor codenamed J450. Shaped like a metallic giant Chapstick, the device uses a low-frame-rate sensor and on-device AI to analyze your room locally. Instead of saving or streaming video footage, it only outputs text descriptions—like generating a text event when a specific person enters a room.

Why it matters: Home security cameras are useful, but streaming video clips creates obvious privacy risks. By processing image data on-device and dropping the video feed entirely, Apple could offer room tracking and facial recognition without storing actual video footage anywhere.

Know this: The camera is reportedly an offshoot companion to Apple’s rumored J490 smart home display. It uses similar on-device sensor tech to a pair of camera-equipped AirPods Apple is reportedly developing.

Finally, a home camera built for the privacy-obsessed.