Apple Aiming to Launch Tabletop Robotic Home Device as Soon as 2026 With Pricing Around $1,000

[Pezimak]

So basically a dumbed down iPad that isn’t removable attached to a self moving arm and speaker, for a grand or more. I don’t really call that a’robot’, but more like ripping off Amazon…

I‘ve found so far the main issue with Apples Home Kit is its incompatibility, like trying to setup my Dyson fan in it I gave up. It’s a smart fan that connects to Alexa automatically and I can control every feature it has by voice instantly. With Home Kit you have to programme it step by step using shortcuts which I found to be confusing frustrating and a waste of time. I can’t even programme it to control the fan speed!

Apple should seriously fully concentrate on its smart home software long before and overpriced ‘command centre’. Because still I find others do it better and easier. Which is a shame as Hime Kit works offline.

 

[Pezimak]

According to Gurman the mini and Plus iPhones were “commercial failures”, yet, granted it’s MR, people here are asking for a new mini … fast forward to this “robotic table top “thing””, how can this be commercially successful? Are people asking for this?
Yes, I get it, some will like it but why would the average consumer spend yet another $1000 for something and iPhone/ipad can do?

I guess Apple will be Apple and lock specific features of its smart home to this new device, it’s all about the upsell don’t forget, got this then you’ll need this too…

 

[Rychiar]

I very much doubt it. Similar products at a much lower price point have been available for quite some time, and neither those nor apple’s pricier approach are exactly mainstream.

there are no similar products. the quest is a gaming console. the Vision Pro is a productivity tool and movie watching device

 

[Wanted797]

Because it isn't the best table robot Apple has ever made.

Oh right! Take my money then.

 

[Chungry]

I believe we have entered the era in which Apple is rapidly running out of areas to grow their business. The Vision Pro has not been a success and the car project is cancelled. So we are about to see a raft of new products that are essentially rehashes of iOS in new and weird form factors. Feels reminiscent of Apple in the late 80s when they began to lose their way and had trouble innovating. Expect weird products with displays like this thing, extra displays on existing product lines like a foldable iPhone that start at $1999, displays on HomePods, and weird dual-screen MacBooks that start at $2999. I also think we will also start seeing cameras added to products that don't currently have cameras. It will be all about how many displays and cameras are all around us. And everything will be unnecessarily thin.

Spot on. The watch is cooks claim to fame but arguably was in the pipeline from the previous caretakers. So really he’s grown revenue but blindly walked down the dangerous path Apple of the late 80s and 90s found itself in. The difference this time is they are institutionally insulated from the repercussions of their failures. And boy howdy what a failure the car project was.

 

[Chungry]

there are no similar products. the quest is a gaming console. the Vision Pro is a productivity tool and movie watching device

It’s not a great productivity tool but it’s fantastic for movies. Basically it’s an iPod video for your head and little else. My team struggles to find fun or productive use cases for our fleet of AVPs and after the novelty wore of even the content consumption angle isn’t enough to make folks want to take one home.

 

[Rychiar]

It’s not a great productivity tool but it’s fantastic for movies. Basically it’s an iPod video for your head and little else. My team struggles to find fun or productive use cases for our fleet of AVPs and after the novelty wore of even the content consumption angle isn’t enough to make folks want to take one home.

I don’t like watching tv or movies any other way now . I don’t even miss my home theater setup

 

[doelcm82]

The way I see something like this being used is as a telepresence robot. A remote user could FaceTime in to a physical meeting. The remote user would be able to turn the screen to look at different people sitting around a conference table (or attend a class with this on a desk in an auditorium). The remote user’s face would appear on the screen.

Turning the screen (and its camera) could be done by the remote user turning their iPhone or iPad, or manually using keyboard commands. But the best way to use it would be with Apple Vision. The user could simply turn their head and the screen would mirror the movement. Cameras on the robotic screen would be in stereo, so the remote user would have a sense of being in the room.

A mobile version of the robot could move itself from place to place (automatically or under control of the remote user) to allow touring of a home, monitoring a factory floor, security patrols, many other uses.

I don’t know what Apple has planned, but that’s how I’d use something with this description.

 

[wanha]

Seems like a make-work project for ex-Apple Car engineers.

Why would someone want a tabletop AI device if they already have an iPhone? For security monitoring or FaceTime, just use iPad.

I think you're overlooking the value of an "always in its place" device for home automation.

My iPhone might be in my bag, out of battery, misplaced or undergoing an OS upgrade.

The predictable availability of a home control center may not be valuable for you, but it is valuable for many.

 

[demwun]

Better if it spoke to he iPad and considered what's in frame and followed you as you walk around it. or rotated and focussed on whoever is speaking.

 

[Chungry]

I don’t like watching tv or movies any other way now . I don’t even miss my home theater setup

The screen is top notch but I’ve got a killer stack at home, my speakers are excellent. And in a way it highlights the audio as a weak spot. I’d rather watch through the header and pipe the sound into my A/V setup. That would be unstoppable. But the AVP is a compromised device in many regards.

 

[ACD30"]

Am I the only longtime Mac user here? I've not yet seen any references to the iMac G4.

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

No offense to whoever made that mock up device but it’s one of the stupidest designs I’ve ever seen

“Eh, just take an iMac G4 and make it black and put some widgets on the screen”
You can do better, whoever you are!

 

[Agent007]

Who is asking for this? Is Apple reaching?

Grasping at future straws. I think they hoped Vision Pro would get iPhone-level attention and now they realize there's not going to be another tech product like the iPhone for a long, long time.

 

[cosmichobo]

Aiming for $1,000?

In what world??

That's a $2k device under Apple's pricing at least.

 

[abennettitsi]

Sort of moving your computer from one room's tabletop, probably the office, to another tabletop, probably your kitchen table. For a command center? That's pretty pricy and albeit, pretty unintelligent and brainless. Another marketing ploy to buy something that already existed, just in the other room, your "command center." Just say its another computer for another room. Geez I also thought, the entire point of apple products was to be mobile, now you have to sit down for this one?