LOS ANGELES – Apple, seeking new sources of revenue, is moving forward with the development of a pricey tabletop home device that combines an iPad-like display with a robotic limb.
The company now has a team of several hundred people working on the device, which uses a thin robotic arm to move around a large screen, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The product, which relies on actuators to tilt the display up and down and make it spin 360 degrees, will offer a twist on home products like Amazon.com’s Echo Show 10 and Meta Platforms’ discontinued Portal.
The device is envisioned as a smart home command centre, videoconferencing machine and remote-controlled home security tool, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the work is not yet public. The project – codenamed J595 – was approved by Apple’s executive team in 2022 but has started to formally ramp up only in recent months, they added.
The shift into robotics is part of a broader effort to boost sales and capitalise on Apple Intelligence, a suite of artificial intelligence technology that is coming to the iPhone, iPad and Mac in 2024. The company also is seeking new growth opportunities after ending efforts to develop a self-driving car earlier in 2024.
A spokesperson for Apple declined to comment.
Apple’s industrial design team has been exploring tabletop robotic concepts for years, but there was no consensus within the company – including the software engineering organisation and marketing teams – over whether to move forward.
Apple’s marketing group was concerned that consumers would not be willing to pay for such a product. Top software engineering executives, meanwhile, fretted about the staffing resources it would require to build the necessary software. But chief executive officer Tim Cook is seen as a proponent of the device – as is Mr John Ternus, the company’s head of hardware engineering.
Apple has now decided to prioritise the device’s development and is aiming for a debut as early as 2026 or 2027, according to the people. The company is looking to get the price down to around US$1,000 (S$1,300). But with years to go before an expected release, the plans could theoretically change.
The idea is for the tabletop product to be primarily controlled using the Siri digital assistant and upcoming features in Apple Intelligence. The device could respond to commands, such as “look at me”, by repositioning the screen to focus on the person saying the words – say, during a video call. It also could understand different voices and adjust its focus accordingly. Current models in testing run a customised version of the iPad operating system.
Apple is also working on robots that move around the home and has discussed the idea of a humanoid version. Those projects are being led, in part, by Dr Hanns Wolfram Tappeiner, a robotics expert who now has about 100 former car team engineers reporting to him.
The capabilities of the tabletop device have been in flux as well. Some people involved in the project say the features have been scaled back from initial ambitions, with one person describing the development process as a roller-coaster ride.
Others within Apple still question whether the device will appeal to consumers and whether the company really needs another tablet-like product. Though the new Vision Pro headset melds virtual and augmented reality (AR) technologies, it ultimately duplicates the features of an iPad.
Apple also has had trouble cracking the market for smart home devices. Its HomePod speakers have not sold as well as models from Amazon and Alphabet’s Google, and the Apple TV set-top box lags behind Roku devices and other rivals.