HomeKit Accessories Worth Checking Out

Every so often, MacRumors videographer Dan rounds up some of his favorite home products that he's been using. We have another installment of our HomeKit series, this time featuring devices from Lutron, Belkin, Sonos, and more.


You can see everything in action in the video, and we have links and a short description for the ‌HomeKit‌ products below.

  • Lutron Caseta Light Switches ($195 for a set) - It can be expensive to swap out bulbs for all of the lighting in your home, but with Lutron's Caseta Smart Lighting Switch and Dimmer Switch, you can wire up your house for ‌HomeKit‌ with minimal effort. You need a bridge for the Caseta devices, so it's best to buy them in a kit if you're replacing more than one light switch.
  • Lutron Serena Smart Shades ($600) - Though not inexpensive, if you want a ‌HomeKit‌ house, Lutron makes a series of Serena Smart Shades that can be controlled using ‌HomeKit‌. You'll need to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $600 per window, so this is pricey home improvement.
  • Wemo Stage Scene Controller ($50) - The multi-button Wemo Stage Scene Controller can be used to control any ‌HomeKit‌ accessory with its assignable buttons.
  • Hunter Ceiling Fan ($180) - Hunter's HomeKit-enabled ceiling fans are surprisingly affordable and can be controlled with Siri, making this a useful smart home addition. Pricing starts at $180 for the Aerodyne, but there are also higher-end models available.
  • Sonos Beam Sound Bar - ($449) Sonos recently released its second-generation Beam, which is designed to work with a TV. It's AirPlay 2-enabled, so it shows up in the Home app and can be used with other ‌AirPlay‌ 2 speakers like the HomePod.
  • HomePod mini ($99) - A HomePod mini is an essential component for a ‌HomeKit‌ setup as it can serve as a Home Hub, it works with Thread devices, and it supports ‌Siri‌ commands. Apple just released the ‌HomePod mini‌ in a selection of new colors, so it's a good time to buy.

Have a favorite ‌‌HomeKit‌‌ device that we left out? Let us know in the comments and we may highlight it in a future ‌‌HomeKit‌‌ video.

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Where's the New Apple TV?

Monday December 22, 2025 11:30 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Apple TV 4K since 2022, and 2025 was supposed to be the year that we got a refresh. There were rumors suggesting Apple would release the new Apple TV before the end of 2025, but it looks like that's not going to happen now. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said several times across 2024 and 2025 that Apple would...
top stories 2025 12 20

Top Stories: iOS 26.3 Beta, Major Apple Leaks, and More

Saturday December 20, 2025 6:00 am PST by
You'd think things would be slowing down heading into the holidays, but this week saw a whirlwind of Apple leaks and rumors while Apple started its next cycle of betas following last week's release of iOS 26.2 and related updates. This week also saw the release of a new Apple Music integration with ChatGPT, so read on below for all the details on this week's biggest stories! Top Stories i...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Features Leaked in New Report, Including Under-Screen Face ID

Tuesday December 16, 2025 8:44 am PST by
Next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with under-screen Face ID, and the front camera will be moved to the top-left corner of the screen, according to a new report from The Information's Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu. As a result of these changes, the report said the iPhone 18 Pro models will not have a pill-shaped Dynamic Island cutout at the top of the screen....
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 Brings AirPods-Like Pairing to Third-Party Devices in EU Under DMA

Monday December 22, 2025 3:20 pm PST by
The European Commission today praised the interoperability changes that Apple is introducing in iOS 26.3, once again crediting the Digital Markets Act (DMA) with bringing "new opportunities" to European users and developers. The Digital Markets Act requires Apple to provide third-party accessories with the same capabilities and access to device features that Apple's own products get. In iOS...
ios 18 security update

Don't Want to Upgrade to iOS 26? Here's How to Stay on iOS 18 [Update: Now Unavailable]

Friday December 19, 2025 10:37 am PST by
Since the beginning of December, Apple has been pushing iPhone users who opted to stay on iOS 18 to install iOS 26 instead. Apple started by making the iOS 18 upgrades less visible, and has now transitioned to making new iOS 18 updates unavailable on any device capable of running iOS 26. If you have an iPhone 11 or later, Apple is no longer offering new versions of iOS 18, even though there...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These 8 New Features to Your iPhone

Monday December 22, 2025 8:47 am PST by
Earlier this month, Apple released iOS 26.2, following more than a month of beta testing. It is a big update, with many new features and changes for iPhones. iOS 26.2 adds a Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more. Below, we have highlighted a total of eight new features. Liquid Glass Slider on Lock Screen A new slider in the Lock...
iPhone Chips

Apple Clings to Samsung as RAM Prices Soar

Monday December 22, 2025 6:17 am PST by
Apple is significantly increasing its reliance on Samsung for iPhone memory as component prices surge, according to The Korea Economic Daily. Apple is said to be expanding the share of iPhone memory it sources from Samsung due to rapidly rising memory prices. The shift is expected to result in Samsung supplying roughly 60% to 70% of the low-power DRAM used in the iPhone 17, compared with a...
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple's 2026 and 2027 Product Roadmap: Foldable iPhone, iPhone 18 Pro, M5 Macs, and More

Tuesday December 16, 2025 4:42 pm PST by
There has been a whirlwind of rumors over the last few days, sourced from leaked internal software designed for the iPhone and the Mac, and news sites like The Information. Below, we have a quick recap of everything we've heard this week, which serves as a guide to Apple's product plans in 2026 and beyond. We've organized the info by likely release date, though there are some products that...

Top Rated Comments

PinkyMacGodess Avatar
53 months ago
I keep wondering where the dimming glass windows are. Are they that expensive, that hard to manufacture, that hard to find, that unreliable?

I remember watching someone pushing a remote control button, and the glass went opaque. Loved it... Is that technology out there somewhere? It wouldn't be 'darkout' type shading, but is a start...
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pubb Avatar
53 months ago

That was CGI. Its not technically possible to make glass turn opaque.
Hate to break it to you, but it is. And has been around for years.



There are also versions that are like Transitions lenses that change tint from clear to grey/smokey
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gsmornot Avatar
53 months ago
$600 per window is pricy. I cant wait for the price to come down or another option to become available. I like the concept and use Lutron around the house just cant commit at this time to shades that cost this much. Those that can, I think you will enjoy the automation you can add with instillation.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SigEp265 Avatar
53 months ago
HomeBridge is totally worth checking out. I have a lot of non-homekit devices working with Home. I run it on a MacMini.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
_Spinn_ Avatar
53 months ago
I really like Eve Energy smart plug and Eve Weather. The thread versions are really responsive.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LeadingHeat Avatar
53 months ago

As a homekit noob - I wasn't aware of the nuance between wifi and bluetooth only smart plugs. The bluetooth ones always seem to be out of synch and good wifi (software-wise) ones seem hard to find.
Now go one step further and get the Eve smart plug. It’s thread enabled, so if you have a thread router (HomePod mini, Apple TV 4K gen 2, etc) then it won’t even slow down your WiFi because it creates its own network. (That’s the layman’s terms, Thread can get pretty technical if you look into it)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)