Apple and Schneider's New Thermostat Wants to Trim Your Power Bill
On October 13, 2026, at its "Welcome home" event, Apple introduced the Apple Home Collection — its first line of smart home accessories, developed with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric. The lineup runs to nine products: four cameras, a video doorbell, a smart lock, two thermostats and two room sensors, priced from $39.95 to $399.95 in the US. One thermostat comes from LG; the other is the Schneider Home Smart Thermostat, co-developed with Apple. Schneider used the same announcement to unveil an exclusive Power Mount for the wall-mounted Apple HomeView.
Schneider Electric's press release, issued through GlobeNewswire, lists suggested retail prices of $199.99 for the thermostat and $39.99 for the Room Sensor, and says customers in the US and Canada can buy both in the Apple Store beginning early next year. Apple's own store pricing comes in four cents lower on each item: $199.95 and $39.95. Electrek flagged the gap between the two sets of numbers.
The headline feature is Adaptive Temperature, new in the Home app. According to Apple, on-device intelligence from iPhone adjusts heating and cooling based on whether someone is at home, winding down for the night or away — no manual scheduling required. The Apple Post notes the requirements: a home hub such as Apple TV or HomePod, plus an iPhone or Apple Watch running version 26 or later. Schneider, meanwhile, emphasises hands-free Siri control.
Where a power bill is actually at stake is Clean Energy Guidance. Apple says that in the contiguous US, users on a compatible utility plan can shift heating and cooling "to cleaner, lower-cost periods," with the Home app displaying usage insights alongside peak and off-peak rate information. Schneider says the thermostat uses EnergyKit to power the grid forecast in the Home app. The mechanism isn't drastic temperature cuts — it's moving the same demand into lower-priced, cleaner windows.
Readings can come from several places: temperature and humidity sensors built into the wall-mounted HomeView, HomePod and HomePod mini, plus the standalone LG Temperature Sensor and Schneider Home Room Sensor. MacRumors and MacObserver note that HomeView's sensing is optimised for a narrower band — roughly 59°F to 86°F and 30% to 70% relative humidity.
Apple's official line is that availability for all products begins in December at apple.com/store, in the Apple Store app and at Apple Store locations, across the US, Canada and the UK, "with select accessories available starting early 2027" — without saying which products fall into that later batch. The lock and thermostats are listed for the US and Canada only. Electrek is blunter still, writing that the Schneider thermostat debuts in the US and Canada in early 2027.
Power Mount is Schneider's purpose-built power base for the wall-mounted HomeView, in three versions: Power Mount USB-C Wall Connector at $59.95, Power Mount AC Wired at $79.95, and Power Mount PoE Wired at $129.95 in early 2027. The first two went on order October 13. The Verge, 9to5Mac and MacRumors all make the same point: the wall and tabletop HomeView both cost $299 and launch November 13, but the wall version needs a separately sold mount — and the USB-C model requires a 20W-or-higher adapter the buyer supplies.
Set the numbers against the market: Electrek puts ecobee smart thermostats at $139.99 to $259.99 and Google Nest at $99 to $280; Techlicious, writing on Yahoo Tech, notes an ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium listing at about $237.50 on Amazon. Apple and Schneider land mid-to-upper rather than aggressive. What they're selling isn't price — it's skipping a third app.
Schneider says the thermostat supports Matter over Thread, stays on the home network during an internet outage, and pairs by NFC tap even when unpowered; it is built for DIY installation with wire detection. Apple says every Home Collection accessory supports Thread, setup takes one iPhone tap with no extra app or account, and camera footage and Home app data are end-to-end encrypted so that "neither LG Electronics, Schneider Electric, nor Apple" can access it, with video stored in iCloud+ for 10 days. Schneider Electric CEO Olivier Blum frames his company's role as climate control and energy management.
Two caveats decide whether the bill-cutting promise holds. Clean Energy Guidance requires a compatible utility plan and covers only the contiguous US; Adaptive Temperature requires a home hub and recent software on the phone or watch. TechBetweenTheLines argues that households already running solid Matter gear have little reason to rip it out — Home Collection's edge is setup, credential handling and the front-door experience, which pay off most for people starting fresh.