Apple is Building a $1,000 Display on a Voice-Controlled Robot Arm

Apple is building 'a pricey tabletop home device' which uses 'a thin robotic arm to move around a large screen,' using actuators 'to tilt the display up and down and make it spin 360 degree,' according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Citing 'people with knowledge of the matter,' Gurman writes that Apple assigned 'several hundred people' to the project:

The device is envisioned as a smart home command center, videoconferencing machine and remote-controlled home security tool, said the people... The project — codenamed J595 — was approved by Apple's executive team in 2022 but has started to formally ramp up in recent months, they said... Apple has now decided to prioritize the device's development and is aiming for a debut as early as 2026 or 2027, according to the people.

The company is looking to get the price down to around $1,000. But with years to go before an expected release, the plans could theoretically change... The idea is for the tabletop product to be primarily controlled using the Siri digital assistant and upcoming features in Apple Intelligence. The device could respond to commands, such as 'look at me,' by repositioning the screen to focus on the person saying the words — say, during a video call. It also could understand different voices and adjust its focus accordingly. Current models in testing run a customized version of the iPad operating system...
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. In a job listing published this month, Apple said it has a team 'working to leverage and build upon groundbreaking machine learning robotics research, thereby enabling development of generalizable and reliable robot systems.' The company said it's seeking experts with experience in 'robot manipulation' and creating AI models for robot control.

The article calls points out that Apple 'still gets roughly half its revenue from the iPhone,' and calls the robotics effort 'one of a few avenues Apple is pursuing to generate new sources of revenue' — and to 'capitalize' on its AI technology. (Apple is also working on both smart eyeglasses and augmented reality galsses.)

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