Apple Prototypes Tabletop Robot With Lifelike Movements Ahead of Rumored Launch by 2027

[Neodym]

An articulated, yet stationary Apple “robot.” Just . . . Why?

Emotions. People shall build a „personal relationship“ to a technological device. That would make them more accessible on a level beyond sober rationalism.

The idea is nothing new for Apple - remember the old two-faced Mac logo, trying to position a Mac as a „friendly“ computer? Or the introduction of mouse and GUI, when a computer was traditionally operated via keyboard only? Or the popular ad campaign for the G4 (lamp) iMac?

Personally I like the idea very much. Goes beyond the usual technobabble and cool-yet-distanced (and sometimes less user-friendly) UX experiences of most modern devices.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Can the Robot please make me an iPhone 18 Mini?

 

[Neodym]

My point is just about every new (and very successful) product Apple introduces is reflexively categorized as a flop. iPod, iPhone, iPad, Watch, etc.

Now, however... there were some genuine flops: Lisa, Apple Quicktake Camera, Apple G4 PowerMac Cube, Apple HiFi, Apple iPod Sox. But those were developed under and introduced by the previous CEO.

I beg to differ in regard to the Cube. It might have been a financial „flop“ in bare numbers, but it surely did a lot for Apple‘s reputation in terms of technological and design expertise.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I beg to differ in regard to the Cube. It might have been a financial „flop“ in bare numbers, but it surely did a lot for Apple‘s reputation in terms of technological and design expertise.

Agreed - a very cool "halo" product of sorts

 

[citysnaps]

I beg to differ in regard to the Cube. It might have been a financial „flop“ in bare numbers, but it surely did a lot for Apple‘s reputation in terms of technological and design expertise.

It was a market failure with only 150,000 units sold before it was pulled at the end of its first year in production. For reference, Apple sold 300,000+ AVPs in one year.

 

[turbineseaplane]

It was a market failure with only 150,000 units sold before it was pulled at the end of its first year in production. For reference, Apple sold 300,000+ AVPs in one year.

City, think of the context though ..

Apple was a tiny nothing burger little 6B company* at the time they sold 150K very niche Mac Cubes

AVP flopped out at 300k units while they are literally the most valuable company in the WORLD with a 3.5 TRILLION + market cap**

Billion to Trillion Converter


*(pre Intel here, remember!)
**(at any given moment depending upon markets)

 

[citysnaps]

City, think of the context though ..

Apple was a tiny nothing burger little 6B company at the time they sold 150K very niche Mac Cubes

(pre Intel here, remember!)

AVP flopped out at 300k units while they are literally the most valuable company in the WORLD

(at any given moment depending upon markets)

AVP, as it is now, is in essence a technology demonstrator, setting the bar with respect to next generation AR devices as technology matures, and giving time for developers for creating apps.

It certainly didn't "flop out."

Unlike the Cube, AVP has a bright future. There will be future generations of AVP-like devices. Not so with the Cube.

 

[turbineseaplane]

AVP, as it is now, is in essence a technology demonstrator, setting the bar with respect to next generation AR devices as technology matures, and giving time for developers for developing apps. Unlike the Cube, AVP has a bright future.

Whoa now
Wait a minute

Anyone at the time of the Cube could have said exactly the same about tech demonstrator and setting the bar for the future, etc..

That's avoiding what I said

In context of who and what Apple is now
AVP is unquestionably a bigger miss at this time

Assertions about a "bright future" for AVP are speculative

To debate in good faith, it'd be nice if you'd at least cede some points when accurate ones are made

 

[citysnaps]

Whoa now
Wait a minute

Anyone at the time of the Cube could have said exactly the same about tech demonstrator and setting the bar for the future, etc..

That's avoiding what I said

In context of who and what Apple is now
AVP is unquestionably a bigger miss at this time

Assertions about a "bright future" for AVP are speculative

To debate in good faith, it'd be nice if you'd at least cede some points when accurate ones are made

OK... So how did that work out for next generation Apple Cubes?

 

[Mr_Ed]

Emotions. People shall build a „personal relationship“ to a technological device. That would make them more accessible on a level beyond sober rationalism.

The idea is nothing new for Apple - remember the old two-faced Mac logo, trying to position a Mac as a „friendly“ computer? Or the introduction of mouse and GUI, when a computer was traditionally operated via keyboard only? Or the popular ad campaign for the G4 (lamp) iMac?

Personally I like the idea very much. Goes beyond the usual technobabble and cool-yet-distanced (and sometimes less user-friendly) UX experiences of most modern devices.

Trying to make a device more accessible by simplifying or attempting to make it more intuitive to a larger number of people is all well and good. Some of your examples (GUI, mouse) are all about that. The “friendly” aspect is IMO a marketing angle that happens to be supported by actual progress in ease of access. Designing the external appearance to further support the “friendly” marketing certainly does not hurt (G4 iMac being a great example), but I doubt it would have made much difference without the actual accessibility advances inherent in Macs at the time to back it up.

Beyond that, the thought of humans building emotional relationship with a machine is a tough pill to swallow for me. Seems misplaced and as I believe some others here have expressed, a bit sad when we are surrounded by 8+ billion other humans beings.

Putting ALL that aside, I think with devices like the Macs in your examples, what they were/are used for and what they do for us is pretty clear. The rumors have described a desktop device that is articulated, and perhaps has a display. What would you see such a device doing for you that would benefit from an enhanced personal and emotional connection?

 

[turbineseaplane]

Beyond that, the thought of humans building emotional relationship with a machine is a tough pill to swallow for me.

I want no part of that future (truly)

 

[TheBWolf]

During the pandemic I was beta testing a table top robot designed for seniors to alleviate loneliness and promote health. It is available today and called ElliQ. I don't know if it has been improved but I found it to be intrusive and annoying. Perhaps if were a more conversational like ChatGPT it would be more tolerable. But clearly other companies see futures in these kind of devices. Robot companions kind of fall under iPad rules: of course we're going to make them because we've been making them in fiction for many decades. Anyway, something that is rumored to be available in 2027 here at the very beginning of 2025 is pure science fiction. Apple has dozens of such projects at any one time and probably two of them will see the light of day within a decade.

 

[TheBWolf]

I want no part of that future (truly)

I think it's inevitable.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I think it's inevitable.

Nah .. I'm not that fatalistic

The tech to actually make "relationships with machines" a mainstream attractive proposition, I guess I'll believe it if I ever see it

Predicting the future is notoriously fraught with uncertainty and surprise (often truly surprising)

 

[Luposian]

Apple needs to make sure its useful, otherwise it becomes another Vision Pro for most people.

I saw it push that mug towards the user, when it was time to drink water... you better believe it's useful! Actually, in all honesty, I'd love to have something that actually acted like it was alive and sentient. If it didn't cost 1 arm, 2 legs, and 3 kidneys, that is. 😁

 

[svish]

Not happy hearing the rumored pricing. Waiting to see the new device. Hopefully it will be released sooner.

 

[currocj]

Something less useful than the Vision Pro? I bet it’ll cost $5k

 

[RMSR]

Yes!!!

This is exactly what I was waiting for. I will have two for my desk so that they can keep each other company when I am busy. Please don't be jealous of my vision-pro and pour coffee over it.

I know know why my grades were not good despite using iphone, macbook pro, ipad, etc. The light falling on my eyes was not part of the "Apple ecosystem". Next - can you also make a "Apple cheetos" so that I can totally be protected by the safe ecosystem.

 

[WildstarBR2020]

Come on, guys! It’s R&D. The amount of tech used to make it work and behave like this is really cool. And can be used in actual useful products.

Why do I need a dancing robot? Not sure why, but the video mosaic at the beginning of video we can see the robot helping align pictures on the wall, using images to show it’s time to water plants and which plants has to be watered, projecting the next steps of the resolution of a math problem on paper, projecting the image of a whale on the paper to serve is a guide to the girl ink the image there… I can see the lamp pointing to a object and marking it with a projected dot after my prompt “Lamp, where is my car keys?”

Oh, looking out of the window to tell the weather sounds silly? Just toggle from “Expressive” to “Functional” mode. Done.

It’s more entertainment than utility, so it might never see the light of the day. But I’d buy one 😂

PS: no one mentioned how it looks like the robot arm from Iron Man? 😂

 

[fithian]

Bring back the Boob.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Come on, guys! It’s R&D

Why do I need a dancing robot? Not sure why

My only frustration is that they are SO many things that need attention all across Apple software and hardware (the former in particular) ... and it just feels like they are interminably distracted when one sees these kinds of articles

Yes - it's a big company, with many things going on at once -- different teams doing different things -- all true

It still just leaves one irritated as they navigate Time Machine bugs (one example of a zillion) while Apple are spending time and energy on a desktop robot prototype

 

[Mike_Trivisonno]

Apple still can't figure out how to make Stickies stick to where you stick them. It's been 10 years now and the stupid bug remains. But, yeah, let's make a crippled robot that looks out the window to see what the weather is like.

 

[acrakes]

I see major potential for a desktop/countertop "robot" to be a breakthrough device for AI. Voice-enabled LLM with charming motion, a touchscreen monitor "face" that can display a basic OS and play video, plus microphone, webcam notch. Basically a Google Nest Hub transplanted into a friendly chassis and backed by ChatGPT, Gemini, and/or LLM Siri. You could work on baking in a facial/voice recognition algorithm to monitor user mood and make suggestions.

 

[doelcm82]

AVP, as it is now, is in essence a technology demonstrator, setting the bar with respect to next generation AR devices as technology matures, and giving time for developers for creating apps.

It certainly didn't "flop out."

Unlike the Cube, AVP has a bright future. There will be future generations of AVP-like devices. Not so with the Cube.

I agree (with a dash of hope) that AVP has a bright future. But the comparison is strange. "The Cube" is just a design choice. Apple continues to sell powerful computers in small enclosures. The Mac Mini doesn't have a plexiglass enclosure, but it shows that Apple didn't give up on the ideas.

The next Apple Vision device will likely have design changes to make it weigh less (hopefully waaaay less). Maybe the eyesight feature will go away. Someday critics will praise Apple's latest Vision device and how well it does spatial computing, saying "it's not a flop like the AVP was."

I don't personally think AVP was a flop, but the narrative doesn't care.

 

[citysnaps]

I agree (with a dash of hope) that AVP has a bright future. But the comparison is strange. "The Cube" is just a design choice. Apple continues to sell powerful computers in small enclosures. The Mac Mini doesn't have a plexiglass enclosure, but it shows that Apple didn't give up on the ideas.

The next Apple Vision device will likely have design changes to make it weigh less (hopefully waaaay less). Maybe the eyesight feature will go away. Someday critics will praise Apple's latest Vision device and how well it does spatial computing, saying "it's not a flop like the AVP was."

I don't personally think AVP was a flop, but the narrative doesn't care.

I think the next gen AVP will take off when developers start releasing AR apps. That's what I'm waiting for. And would be huge in both personal and commercial applications - there are so many possibilities. A lower price would certainly help, too.

Yeah... I think the eyesight feature, while novel and makes a user look a wee bit normal, is superfluous.

Regarding Apple's Mac Cube... I thought it looked goofy and had kind of a cheap/fragile feeling to it. I suspect it was an experiment of sorts.