Apple Aiming to Launch Tabletop Robotic Home Device as Soon as 2026 With Pricing Around $1,000
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SirachaSour
macrumors newbie
So they're trying to bring back the old iMac G4 style to a Homepod/iPad mix. Why not just do something like google did with their tablets and create an attachment for the iPad since many people already have one rather than creating something entirely different that is going to be 1k+?
OrcaAreCute
Suspended
...hold.. checks price of iPad Pro on stand... checkmate my friend.
Arran
macrumors 603
Who said the iPad was included?*
*iPad not included
_apple_apple_
macrumors member
There's got to be more to this product, I'm just thinking through the design challenges here:
Will probably be called HomeHub or HomeCenter.
- The rotating aspect implies that people could be seated all around, or approach it from any angle. That limits it to 3 surfaces in the home: dining table, kitchen 'island', couch table. If the rotation sweep is small, what's the point? Especially if it's going to spin around to watch the room as a security camera.
- If it has a power cable, that will be super awkward to deal with on the tables listed above. If it's battery powered, does that mean they expect you to move it from room to room? That'd mean having a handle on top and having a use case that is worth dragging around the house. I could see a magsafe platform that charges it so it can do both, have a dock home, but also be moveable (like roomba). Roomba docked itself though, this you'd have to find it and put it back every night.
- As a control center for home kit, it seems worse than each home kit user using the app on their existing devices, since presumably it's a shared instance. If it can be moved around the house, you'd have to find it before using it?
- During FaceTime, if this device is looking at you, then someone on the other side of the table talks, will it spin around fast? That'd be very jarring footage for the FaceTimed person.
Will probably be called HomeHub or HomeCenter.
collide007
macrumors member
Apple have never made things people want, they make things people didn’t know they wanted. Most people were happy with Walkmans before iPod, happy with feature phones before iPhone, happy with laptops before iPad…
Noctilux.95
macrumors 6502a
I want mine to have wheels and follow me around like a loyal dog.
CarAnalogy
macrumors 603
I don’t understand, how is this a robot? It just sits on the table and rotates a display, from the sound of it. It doesn’t even pass butter. That’s not a robot.
archimonster
macrumors newbie
Thats funny. I did the same design back in 2021 when I was thinking about what that product could be. But I envisioned it being a MagSafe dock for a phone as well as a HomePod speaker.
Apple is moving forward with its project to develop a tabletop robotic device, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
MacRumors rendering of a similar device based on the G4 iMac
The device would feature a large iPad-like display mounted on a "thin robotic arm" that would allow the display to tilt and up and down and rotate a full 360º, and it would serve as a "smart home command center," a videoconferencing machine such as for FaceTime calls, and a home security monitoring tool.
The tabletop robot would leverage Siri and Apple Intelligence, allowing it to respond to an array of verbal commands, recognize different voices, and automatically orient the display to face users in the room.
While Apple has been toying with the idea for some time, Gurman says Apple has recently prioritized development of the device, putting it under the purview of Kevin Lynch, Apple's vice president of technology who has overseen such projects as the Apple Watch and Apple's defunct self-driving car venture.
Apple is now looking to launch the device as soon as 2026 or 2027 and is aiming to get the price down to around $1,000, though plans may change as development proceeds.
Article Link: Apple Aiming to Launch Tabletop Robotic Home Device as Soon as 2026 With Pricing Around $1,000
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All those spare parts from the unsold Vision Pros have to go somewhere
harmonthe3rd
macrumors regular
I'm asking for it.
VisceralRealist
macrumors 6502a
I hear "iPad robot" and all I can think of is the TinaBot from Bob's Burgers:
There's a lot of assumption on just about every post in this story. Especially how it would look, its purpose and utility, and how people would use and interact with it. I suspect most people here are not aware that the photo of the device is an MR rendering. In other words, a guess. It's sad that responses are similar to those of iPod, iPhone, iPad, Watch, etc responses when they were released.
That said, it is gratifying a couple of posters are not constrained by a lack of imagination.
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npmacuser5
macrumors 68000
Needs wheels and comes when I call. Helpful if it had a tray to shuttle needed libations.
Hard to vision a fixed device with any seriousness.
Hard to vision a fixed device with any seriousness.
jgoodmanjr
macrumors newbie
Honestly, i'd be more inclined to buy a stand that connected via magsafe to an iPad that could be used in multiple locations/situations.
Numbah One
macrumors regular
Probably the TIM 5000 - Totally Integrated MoneyVacuum, cost $5000
OrcaAreCute
Suspended
this will be two fails in a row (o hai vision pro) even if you don't count the most recent home pods.
when I demo'd the Vision Pro at launch, I don't even remember the movie they showed me, but her reaction when I said "hrm let me see what Avatar looks like" told me that I did not want a vision pro. She almost reached to take it off my face. "We are not demo'ing avatar at this time"
Mrkevinfinnerty
macrumors 68030
I know Tim is a bit boring but replacing him with a humanoid robot ...
Baseball bat at the ready…….