If your Apple smart home setup hasn't changed in a year or two, you're probably missing out. Matter support has matured, HomeKit now talks to robot vacuums, and there are some genuinely clever new devices that slot right into an Apple-first setup. Here are eight upgrades worth considering this summer.
Turn Your Keyboard Into a Smart Home Controller
The Third Reality Mark1 is a Matter-compatible mechanical keyboard, but its real trick is that the top function keys can be exposed as Matter buttons inside Apple Home. Hold Fn, press one of those keys, and it fires a smart home command — lights, fans, whatever you've mapped. Since it also works with VIA for full remapping, you can label the keycaps however you want. If you spend long hours at a desk, this is one of the most frictionless ways to control your space.
Automatic Cabinet Lighting
LED strips inside dark cabinets sound simple, but the payoff is immediate — you stop digging around blind. The trick is pairing a strip with an Aqara door/window sensor: when the cabinet door opens, the lights come on; when it closes, they go off. You can remove the outer casing of the small Aqara magnet piece and recess it flush into a drilled hole in the door, which makes the whole thing nearly invisible. You'll need an Aqara hub to bridge the Zigbee sensor into Apple Home.
Apple HomeKit Robot Vacuums Are Finally Good
Brands like Ecovacs and Roborock now support Apple Home via Matter, and it changes how you use a robot vacuum entirely. Instead of scheduling through a separate app, you can tie cleaning to existing automations — arm your home security system to "Away" mode and your robot starts on the first floor automatically. You can also just ask your HomePod. The navigation and mopping quality on current models is also dramatically better than hardware from even two or three years ago.
A Modern Replacement for Apple's Time Capsule
Apple quietly confirmed that macOS 27 will drop support for the old AirPort Time Capsule hardware. If you've been coasting on one of those, now is the time to move on. The Ubiquiti UNAS Pro is a solid landing spot — it supports Time Machine, mounts network drives automatically when you're on your home network, and supports 10 Gb Ethernet. Pair it with Ubiquiti's UniFi Identity app and your Mac logs in and connects to the drives without any manual steps.
A Smart Lock for Interior Doors
Most smart locks assume you want your door locked all the time. The Thorbolt Mark1 (from SleekPoint) doesn't — you can configure it to stay unlocked by default and only lock under specific conditions, like when you leave home or at night. It has a keypad and a fingerprint sensor, works with Apple Home, and its small form factor makes it a natural fit for interior doors like a home office. No Apple Home Key support, but the auto-lock flexibility makes up for it.
HomeKit Built Into Your TV
A growing number of TVs now include HomeKit support — and it's worth specifically looking for it, since AirPlay alone doesn't give you the same control. The Hisense U8 (2025 model) supports HomeKit, AirPlay, Google Home, and Alexa. With HomeKit, you can tie the TV's power and input to automations alongside your lights and other devices. One practical tip: run Ethernet to the TV if you can. Wi-Fi on TVs that haven't been used in a while tends to be slow to reconnect, and HomeKit commands feel much more responsive over a wired connection.
A Speaker That Goes Where You Do
The Sonos Move 2 works as a standard Sonos speaker at home — AirPlay, multi-room audio, the whole deal — and switches to Bluetooth when you take it outside Wi-Fi range. That means it travels to the backyard, beach, or vacation without losing any functionality. It also supports Sonos Voice Control and Alexa if you want hands-free control. If you've been treating your smart speakers as furniture, this one gives you more flexibility.
Make It Work for You, Not the Other Way Around
None of these upgrades require tearing your home apart. The best ones — cabinet lights, a keyboard controller, coordinated robot vacuums — are small changes that remove daily friction. Start with what bothers you most, and build from there.
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