Apple's Work on Robots: What We Know So Far

[Fuzzball84]

Im not excited at all about this…

Its like Apple Car… its so far removed from the companies bread and butter… that i just think its unlikely

 

[Delivered]

With the Apple Car canceled, Apple is exploring new markets where it might be able to find new revenue streams, and personal robotics is apparently one area the company is investigating.

This guide highlights everything we know about Apple's interest in robotics, and we'll update it with new rumors going forward.

The Robot Rumors

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is looking for its "next big thing," and robotics are one area of focus. Apple has engineering teams working on various in-home robotic devices and the AI software and functionality that might be able to make a home robot useful.

Apple's work on robotics takes place in the hardware engineering division and in its AI and machine learning group under AI chief John Giannandrea.

Mobile Robot

Apple is considering a mobile robot that would follow users around the home, presumably serving as something like an iPad on wheels. A robot would likely be able to place FaceTime calls, monitor the home and the people in it, carry out simple tasks, and answer queries.

Apple is said to be exploring AI algorithms that would be used to help robots navigate cluttered spaces in homes, and while Apple wants to design a robot that would clean and do chores much like Rosey in the Jetsons, it's too complicated for now. Gurman says that such a robot is unlikely this decade due to "extraordinarily difficult engineering challenges."

Table-Top Robot

Another Apple project is described as an "advanced table-top home device" where robotics are used to move a display around. The device, which is described as a robotic motor on a small stand, would mimic the head movements of a person on a FaceTime video call. It would be able to nod, or precisely lock on to a single person during a group FaceTime call. Gurman says that Apple has had some difficulty with weight and balance, and Apple is also not sure that consumers will pay "top dollar" for such a product.

The robotic display is said to be further along than Apple's mobile robot, but it has been "added and removed from the company's product roadmap" several times over the years.

Secret House Facility

Apple reportedly has a secret facility that is designed to look like the inside of a home, and that's where it is testing future home products.

Other Home Devices

There are some more realistic products that are in the works, with rumors suggesting that Apple is developing an iPad-like home hub device that would serve as a central way to control smart devices. Apple has also been rumored to be working on a version of the Apple TV that integrates HomePod speakers and a camera, and there have been rumors of a HomePod with a display.

Apple's Competition

Amazon has a $1,600 "Astro" robot that it sells by invitation. Astro is able to navigate the home and remotely check specific rooms, people, and things when the user is away from home.

The robot is able to send an alert if an unrecognized person is detected, or if there are sounds like an alarm. Astro has a built-in display and can be used for watching TV, placing calls, setting reminders, sending messages, and more. Astro uses Alexa, and Amazon suggests that it can be used to "remotely care for aging loved ones."

Astro is also able to carry "a variety of accessories" such as a Ziploc container, a blood pressure monitor, and a Furbo Dog Camera that provides treats for a pet.

Sony has experimented with robots, and is best known for the Aibo robotic dog. Priced at $2900, Aibo is designed to act like a real dog with dynamic movements, lifelike expressions, curiosity, and an interest in human interaction. Aibo is able to learn tricks, play with toys, and listen to commands.

There are a number of other home robots on the market, but the best known may be the wide range of robot vacuums like the Roomba that are able to navigate the home to automatically clean up dust, dirt, pet fur, and other debris.

Robot Launch Date

Apple's work on personal robotics is in the early stages, and the company has small teams that are exploring different concepts. It is not clear if some kind of robot will ever launch, and there is no word on when if so.

Article Link: Apple's Work on Robots: What We Know So Far

I think this whole idea made me realize something. The Vision Pro is fantastic. AR/VR is a much better fit for apples future the the car was alway concerning bc it had potential to swallow all of apple. Just focusing on expanded CarPlay makes sense.

This robot thing. No. Just no. Go look at the Samsung version and you’ll understand.

I feel like this is fake. Possibly Apple looking into it. But probably not. Apple is at its best when it’s looking at technology they interact with each day and making it not suck. Like when they were sitting around table complaining about phones and realized they needed to enter the market with a phone that didn’t suck.
all of this stuff seems like finding new tech and trying to make a product.

 

[MonkeySpank158]

Oh no… because 9to5Mac mentioned The Jetsons on their version of the original rumour, every single MacRumors post about Apple’s rumoured home droid is going to be emblazoned with an image of Rosie from The Jetsons, isn’t it?

Is this better?

 

[Fuzzball84]

They are more likely to focus on a whole house AI… a behind the scenes assistant that runs on a Mac etc… that can communicate with you via homepod, iphone, apple watch

And use a combination of connected and smart devices to control heating, monitor smoke alarms and cameras… know if someone has an accident and call opfor emergency services…

Anything but a creepy robot following you around. Thats the issue…do you make it obvious its a robot, or make it look like a pet or human.

At least a central house AI doesn't need a body. It can just communicate via displays and speakers.

 

[Lioness~]

I read a rumour it will clean everything in your house but it won’t do “windows” /s

Is this why Apple, and Cook in particular, can't look out from their minds and buildings and into the world and see anything different anymore. The windows are too dirty 😂

 

[filchermcurr]

I feel like there’s often not much of a sense of imagination here. The knee jerk rejection of the idea is strange. There is a home robotics market and it is growing. The utility of these kinds of devices has not even begun to be explored yet. The mopping and vacuum robots are old news at this point. Even window washing robots are several generations old now. There absolutely is an opportunity to innovate in that market space. Will Apple be the one to take advantage of it? Pretty doubtful, but I’d sure like to see what there’re thinking of. Because I guarantee it isn’t what any of us imagine it is.

I can't speak for anybody else, but my imagination and excitement over anything new has been monumentally crushed by everything being a subscription. Now that those floodgates have opened, most new products are going to go with that model. I don't find that a compelling future in the slightest.

 

[d0sed0se]

Time for new leadership. Straight up.

 

[victorvictoria]

The possibilites are mind-boggling. And Apple is uniquely equipped to pursue robotics, unlike their ill-considered idea to enter the automaker market. Given the history of car companies other than the Big Three, it was doomed from the beginning.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Until Siri gets beyond "here's what I found for you on the web" ...

..color me skeptical about anything too "smart" coming from Apple

 

[ThisIsMike]

For every person who thinks this isn’t going to happen, I’m sorry, but that is just completely oblivious and frankly, ignorant, to where technology is going, and how AI is going to further the development of intelligent robots. Every major tech company is now investigating this - Tesla, Amazon, Samsung, Google, Boston Dynamics, Figure/OpenAI/Microsoft, etc etc.

Apple would be IDIOTS to ignore what is ultimately going to be a massive consumer-product-focused market - which happens to be Apple’s bread and butter.

Joke ALL you want. But AI, robotics, and quantum computing are the next wave of tech. If you’re not worried about Apple right now, you should be. I’m incredibly thankful they have begun the long journey of development for Apple Vision. But that will not be enough. These other areas are vital if they want to remain a leader with consumers and businesses in the future.

And by the way, that doesn’t mean they need a robot tomorrow. But eventually, yes.

Sometimes I’m shocked by the comments on here, a site that is FOCUSED on technology. I remember when the square iPod nano was being hacked into a watch, I thought- ahhh, this shows there is demand and a market. Now Apple will develop an actual watch. And until it happened, people would mock the idea when I brought it up.

Mock this or not, it’s going to happen. It’s ALREADY happening. It may not be Apple who succeeds at it, but someone is going to.

Let me ask you, if they aren’t doing a car, and you don’t think they should develop robots, what product do you think they SHOULD be working on for their next big thing? Because iterating on the current line up indefinitely isn’t going to cut it.

 

[Surf Monkey]

For every person who thinks this isn’t going to happen, I’m sorry, but that is just completely oblivious and frankly, ignorant, to where technology is going, and how AI is going to further the development of intelligent robots. Every major tech company is now investigating this - Tesla, Amazon, Samsung, Google, Boston Dynamics, Figure/OpenAI/Microsoft, etc etc.

Apple would be IDIOTS to ignore what is ultimately going to be a massive consumer-product-focused market - which happens to be Apple’s bread and butter.

Joke ALL you want. But AI, robotics, and quantum computing are the next wave of tech. If you’re not worried about Apple right now, you should be. I’m incredibly thankful they have begun the long journey of development for Apple Vision. But that will not be enough. These other areas are vital if they want to remain a leader with consumers and businesses in the future.

And by the way, that doesn’t mean they need a robot tomorrow. But eventually, yes.

Sometimes I’m shocked by the comments on here, a site that is FOCUSED on technology. I remember when the square iPod nano was being hacked into a watch, I thought- ahhh, this shows there is demand and a market. Now Apple will develop an actual watch. And until it happened, people would mock the idea when I brought it up.

Mock this or not, it’s going to happen. It’s ALREADY happening. It may not be Apple who succeeds at it, but someone is going to.

Let me ask you, if they aren’t doing a car, and you don’t think they should develop robots, what product do you think they SHOULD be working on for their next big thing? Because iterating on the current line up indefinitely isn’t going to cut it.

I think we’re all a little head shy about the hype surrounding AI. At the moment it’s being tossed around so freely that it’s become more a buzz word than a real descriptor.

 

[Realityck]

Would they call this thing then....

...iRobot?

Apple can't, that trademark that belongs to https://www.irobot.com/
IRobots been in business for 30 years. You've seen their products in TV shows and movies.

 

[Algr]

I have three J9’s and they don’t operate like that whatsoever, and they do an amazing job.

Wrong. The Neato floor mapping system is far more efficient than random bumping around.

The one I own is from Eufy. I've had it for many years, and it remains excellent. (Except for when it gets stuck or hides.) But observing it carefully, I can see that this is all it really does. Since it runs quietly at 4am, it really doesn't matter how it works, it just does.

Edit: A good indicator of no AI or map is if it leaves a room, vacuums another, and then goes back and vacuums the first some more.

 

[jayducharme]

I like how both articles about this portray Rosie from the Jetsons. I think this is more like what Apple would design:

 

[boswald]

Unless it’s Codsworth I don’t want it!

 

[nt5672]

Please please just don’t! The time is not ripe for a robot. They should just focus on miniaturization of the Vision Pro and stick with that besides investing heavily in Siri/ai. Isn’t that difficult enough?

The time is not right because Apple has never proven it can implement anything smart (AI). Sure Apple has some AI focused hardware. But all Apple software is dumb as a rock. Apple should walk before they try to run.

The car project was probably the most sophisticated AI in the world, and Apple self-admitted they failed. But why?

I think I know why, Cook wanted it at the next Keynote and threw a temper tantrum when the engineers, after changing direction for the 100th time, said it would not be ready. Cook's response, "then, I'll just shut it down, it's costing too much money." To Cook, that is visionary.

 

[nt5672]

Apple can't, that trademark that belongs to https://www.irobot.com/
IRobots been in business for 30 years. You've seen their products in TV shows and movies.

And they work great, we have 2. And guess what, even with moving parts we don't have to replace them every 3 years. If Apple is every going to make something that moves Apple has to quit designing products that are expected to go into the landfill every 3 years.

 

[victorvictoria]

I think we’re all a little head shy about the hype surrounding AI. At the moment it’s being tossed around so freely that it’s become more a buzz word than a real descriptor.

Many of us, no doubt. The rest of us bought Nvidia stock back when Apple started using their graphics cards. Now we're just ecstatic about that hype!

 

[Karma*Police]

Apple is like : what’s the Trent to follow ? Ev, let’s make. Now it’s Ai, let’s make. Now it’s Robots, let’s make.

A follower of trends, an innovator of the past. Cook must go home.

Don’t forget the most revolutionary thing to happen in entertainment… Apple TV +.

Just kidding of course. It offers absolutely nothing to our lives that a dozen Hollywood studios couldn’t have offered, not to mention it was 5 years too late.

 

[Icehawk]

I for one eagerly await my iCylon Imperious Leader.

 

[Born Again]

Bloomberg:
The Big Hack… that never happened
The Apple Car… that never happened
now
The Apple Robot… that will never happen

The Apple Vision Pro that never took off

 

[Surf Monkey]

Don’t forget the most revolutionary thing to happen in entertainment… Apple TV +.

Just kidding of course. It offers absolutely nothing to our lives that a dozen Hollywood studios couldn’t have offered, not to mention it was 5 years too late.

They’ve done a surprisingly good job of picking and producing shows, but you’re right. It came WAY too late.

 

[thewill586]

Wouldn’t Apple car, robots, or any new products just be building a bigger Walled Garden? I think the DOJ and FTC want Apple to break-up into multi-billion dollar companies.

 

[haemolysis]

If any company has the “money to throw” it’s Apple. But I fear it will be another Apple car situation. Apple succeed almost solely from high margins but have successful products in VERY few product categories… never seen them branch out before, and the branch they wanna take is robotics? Big leap.

 

[Fraserpatty]

after watching Robot and Frank, and reading about the aging populations of some of the major countries, I am thinking Care robots really should be a thing. Apple needs to start working on one right now. Then maybe by the time we badly need them they will be ready.