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Today, Aqara officially unveiled their new M2 HomeKit hub, alongside the new Zigbee 3.0 compatible sensors and switches. The big changes that come with the new M2 hub, apart from what we’ve previously reported, are that the new hub can support more than three times the amount of Zigbee devices topping out at a whopping 100 device limit, with the current hub limited to only 30 devices. The M2 will also, for the first time, support dual wifi bands – so 2.4gHz and 5.0gHz signals will be supported . The device has dual antennas, not a dual band wifi antenna as previously reported. As mentioned in earlier articles, the new M2 hub supports, ZigBee and Wifi, as well as ethernet connection via the included RJ45 port at the back of the device. When we first discovered evidence of this product, back in May, it was shown to have support for Bluetooth as well, and whilst the specs mention Bluetooth 5.0, on the official page doesn’t mention Bluetooth connectivity as one of the options at the start of the page for the Aqara M2, so it could be a future option for connection to Bluetooth devices by Mi/Mijia, as Aqara don’t make any Bluetooth devices at present that we’re aware of.

HomeKit Aqara Door Lock and more…

the Aqara S2 Pro Door Lock will be getting an upgrade, with HomeKit support. The current S2 Pro will not get an upgrade to HomeKit support, so it will be replaced by the newer HomeKit version when it becomes available. As mentioned in previous posts, Aqara has now officially announced their new T1 switches and sensors, along with a new smart plug.

ZigBee 3.0 Light Switches

Aqara also revealed new versions of their popular wall switches. The new switches will use Zigbee 3.0 and will come in the usual single and double switch configurations, but in addition to these will be a new triple button wall switch. The new switches will only be the in-wall, wired versions, not the wireless switches. The switches will come in neutral wire and no-neutral wire versions. There will be new versions of the current Wireless Aqara Switches, that will support Zigbee 3.0.

New Opple Ceiling Lamps and Switches

The new M2 hub will also work with new lamps and wall switches being introduced by Opple (no, not Apple) that will also work with HomeKit. Both the lights and the switches will use Zigbee 3.0 to connect to the hub, and from there be exposed to Apple HomeKit.

Light Sensor

As we previously reported, Aqara is also introducing a new Ambient light sensor. As with all the aforementioned new devices, this will use Zigbee 3.0, it will have an adaptive range, so if you only want it to report ambient light up to a certain distance, you can do. It can also distinguish ‘perceived ambient lighting’, which we take to assume it measures brightness as humans perceive it. It is magnetic, so it can be stuck to any metal surface. It will be IPX3 rated, meaning it can withstand splashes of water, but not sustained water, like rain or be submerged in water. The battery will have a maximum of two years, and will also give a low battery reminder, as well as let you see the strength of the ZigBee signal between the sensor and the hub.

Aqara G2H Camera

The crushing news for some people will be that the Aqara G2 camera looks like it won’t be getting the rumoured HomeKit support, with the introduction of the G2H camera being unveiled, that will support HomeKit. There’s currently little other information on the camera, the price and when it will be out, as well as whether it will also act as a standard or HomeKit enabled gateway.

B1 Curtain Motor

Aqara has also put the official specs for the Aqara M2 hub on the Chinese version of their website, which confirms that the B1 Smart Curtain Controller will work with HomeKit. The B1 will work with HomeKit via both the current Aqara hub and the new M2 hub.

Thanks to Eric Yao and Jerry for the help in translating and compiling the information.