Apple Considers Push Into Home Robots as Its 'Next Big Thing' [Report]

Apple is considering a push into personal robotics as one of its 'next big things,' according to a new report from Bloomberg.

Engineers at Apple have been exploring a mobile robot that can follow users around their homes, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the skunk-works project is private. The iPhone maker also has developed an advanced table-top home device that uses robotics to move a display around, they said.


[CURVED/labs Concept]


The endeavour is still in the early stages; however, Apple is purportedly on the hunt for new source of revenue after abandoning its years long project to make an electric vehicle. The robotic smart display is much further along in development than the mobile bot, though it's allegedly been added and removed from Apple's roadmap over the years.

Work on robotics is happening within the hardware engineering division and AI machine learning group at Apple, led by John Giannandrea. Hardware development has reportedly been overseen by Matt Costello and Brian Lynch.

Notably, work on the robot originated within Apple's Titan car project around 2019. At that time Doug Field ran the project. He purportedly enlisted a series of executives to work on robotics initiatives that ranged from near silent indoor drones to home robots. After Field left Apple in 2021, robotics work was moved to the home devices group.

More details in the full report linked below...


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