Apple Now Sells a Thermostat That Decides For You. The Useful Part Is Deciding From Work

Apple started selling the Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 in its own store, the first third-party thermostat that works with Adaptive Temperature, the feature that adjusts heating and cooling on its own depending on whether you are home, asleep or away. It costs about $10 more there than on Aqara’s site or on Amazon.

The pitch is automation. The part I would actually use is remote control.

Coming home to a warm house on a cold day is worth paying for, and it has nothing to do with the thermostat guessing. It means opening an app from work and switching the heating on so the place is warm when I walk in. That is a decision I make, at a moment I choose, for a reason the software cannot know: I am leaving early today.

Letting it decide is a different proposition, and the failure modes are not symmetrical. A thermostat that wrongly thinks you are out costs you a cold evening. One that wrongly thinks you are home heats an empty house all day. I would rather press the button.

As for the ten dollars, it buys two things and not the one you would assume. Apple certifies what it sells, so the compatibility is checked rather than promised, and returns go through Apple instead of through the manufacturer. The warranty is still Aqara’s. If it breaks in eight months, you are talking to the same company either way.

So, do I buy it? Buy the thermostat, from wherever it is cheapest, and use it as a remote control first. Ten dollars for an easier return is fair if you are nervous about compatibility. If you are not, Amazon sells the same box.