If there’s anything that has been keeping many homeowners from embracing smart lighting in their homes, it’s the cost. Fortunately, IKEA has a growing line of smart lighting products known as TRÅDFRI that is surprisingly affordable, with individual bulbs starting at US$12 and a residential bridge priced at $30. IKEA has issued a firmware update to TRÅDFRI that adds support for Apple’s HomeKit home automation framework.
What’s particularly interesting about IKEA’s move is that it’s the first time that a smart home product has added HomeKit support through a firmware update. Other systems, like Philips Hue and Lutron’s Caséta lighting kits, require users to purchase new HomeKit-compatible bridges to gain HomeKit support. Earlier this year, Apple relaxed its HomeKit restrictions and now allows developers to add HomeKit security in products through software instead of requiring Apple’s authentication kit.
We’re not sure if IKEA took the latter path to HomeKit compatibility or if the TRÅDFRI line always had Apple’s authentication chips built-in, but it’s still good news to know that the home furnishing retailer has Apple users in mind.
