After having pulled the plug on its decade-long ‘Project Titan’ – Apple’s ambitious self-driving car project – earlier this year, the Cupertino giant is now ambitiously moving forward with its robotics project starting with a ‘tabletop robot’.
However, Apple is finally looking to build on its robotics dream with the new home robot.
From Cars to Home
Apple’s robotics venture was highly aspirational from the beginning. The company had plans to build cars that could achieve Level 5 autonomy, and even have a controller or app for low-speed driving with an Apple command center for remote assistance.
However, with the evolution of the autonomous vehicles market where prominent players such as Waymo, Baidu and now Tesla too, are spearheading through, Apple’s choice of abandoning it, seemed like the best option for now.
Additionally, with their increasing focus in generative AI ventures, robotics seemed to have taken a backseat. While the team was disbanded, the same team is reportedly leading the tabletop robot project.
“They’re all in on robotics right now. Robotics is the next big thing at Apple. They’re talking about humanoids. They’re talking about mobile robots to go around your home, and now they’re talking about this home device,” said Mark Gurman, a reputed journalist who covers Apple devices extensively.
Apple’s Robotic Goals
Apple’s new product is pretty much a slim robotic arm capable of moving a large screen (an i-pad), tilting it up and down, and enabling a full 360-degree rotation. The product is estimated to be priced around $1000.
Away from self-driving cars, the robotic arm seems like a more realistic goal. A fully voice-controlled system that can move around the table will most likely be powered by Apple Intelligence.
The device would identify different voices in the house and use a center stage-like feature to turn and face users whenever they speak.
Foxconn to Power Apple Robots
Recent reports indicate that Hongzhun, which is part of electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn, a key casing manufacturer under the Hon Hai Group, has been added to Apple’s robot supply chain partnership. It was chosen due to its expertise in mass producing robot-related components.
The companies will continue to collaborate with further developments from Hongzhun being anticipated.
Interestingly, Foxconn’s partnership with Apple has been a long-standing one, beginning as early as the 2000s with the production of iMacs. This relationship deepened over time, with Foxconn becoming the primary assembler of many Apple products, including the iPhone, which is a significant revenue driver for both companies.
Foxconn has also set up factories in India for iPhone manufacturing. It is also possible that in the future, India may also serve as the hub for Apple robot product manufacturing.
Meanwhile, Foxconn CEO Young Liu recently visited India and met many prominent people including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His visit to Bengaluru has strengthened his relationship with the country, probably hinting that Apple’s future robotic device manufacturing could take place there.
Far-Fetched Goals Will Continue
Apple’s increased focus on the robotics sector is part of the company’s efforts to explore new product categories for revenue generation.
This becomes important especially after the recent Apple Vision Pro debacle where the company witnessed a drop in sales by 75%. One of the main reasons for the drop is attributed to the exorbitant price of close to $4000 for a Vision Pro set. Furthermore, the hype and the interest around the device have also drastically declined.
With the robot tabletop that is estimated to be launched in 2026, or later, it is likely that Apple would extensively invest in robotics. When the car dream shut down, people were speculating Apple’s entry into the humanoid segment. And with the way the humanoid race is gaining steam, that wouldn’t be a surprise either.
