Apple’s in-home iPad robot project gathers steam – report

Back in April reports claimed Apple’s next big project following the collapse of the Apple Car dream was an in-home robot – a table-top device with an iPad-like robotic monitor arm.

A few months on, the source of that report is back with a few more details. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple already has a squad of several hundred people working on the new product category.

The aim, it appears, is to go well-beyond the smart displays like the Echo Show and Meta Portal. This device would be able to follow users around the room – provided its relieved from its table top duties – according to the report.

In that regard, it might more closely resemble the Samsung Ballie mobile robot, a bowling-ball like wheeled device with a built-in projector, unveiled at CES 2024.

The new report claims the robotic limb on Apple’s planned device would enable the display to swivel to face the user, as they go about their household tasks. According to the report, users would be able to interact with the device via Siri and it would naturally be loaded with Apple Intelligence features.

According to the report, it’ll run on a version of iPadOS and users will be able to use commands like “look at me” to rotate the display to face the user.

Bloomberg sources say Apple is looking to get the price under $1,000, which appears to be a hugely ambitious task given it’s a complex new product category unlike anything Apple has made before. The idea that it’d cost less than an iPhone or MacBook Air seems fanciful, even if the product launch might not take place until 2027.

The report also includes some tremendous detail on exactly who at Apple is working on the project. Matt Costello, who leads HomePod development at Apple, is reportedly on board. Around 100 people who had previously been working on the Apple Car car project have been enlisted, working under its previous lead – Apple’s head of technology Kevin Lynch.

The report reads: “The hardware engineering group is also involved. Matt Costello, an executive who leads development of Apple’s HomePod smart speaker, is overseeing the hardware side of the project. The company also is 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 Hanns Wolfram Tappeiner, a robotics expert who now has about 100 former car team engineers reporting to him.”