Apple is exploring both humanoid and non-humanoid robots for its future smart home ecosystem. This was stated by the well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. These products are still in the early stages of Proof of Concept (POC) within the company.
On his page in X, Ming-Chi Kuo writes that while the industry debates the merits of humanoid versus non-humanoid designs, Apple is more focused on how users will perceive robots than on their appearance.
That's why the company uses the term "anthropomorphic" instead of "humanoid." This means that sensor hardware and software are the main technological solutions.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that Apple is working on a desktop robot that could be the command center of a smart home. And a week ago, various Western media wrote about a robot created by the company's researchers that looks like the lamp from Pixar.
"The prototype robot shows off a variety of behaviors. It knocks over some wooden blocks like a naughty cat. It follows a book around as it's moved so that it always shines light on the pages. It reacts to a person who's waving at it to show it where to turn. It behaves more like a cute and helpful pet than a cold and calculating robot," writes Cnet, citing a project description posted on the Apple Machine Learning Research website.
The timing of the transition from the POC stage to the official launch may vary. The analyst believes that, given current progress and typical development cycles, production of Apple robots will not begin until 2028 or even later.
It is also interesting that in the early stages of POC, the company is unusually open about sharing some of its robotics research. Perhaps to attract talent.
"People often hear about stages like NPI, EVT, and MP when discussing Apple’s product development, but POC tends to fly under the radar," says Ming-Chi Kuo.
In fact, POC is Apple's proving ground, where ideas and key technologies are tested for viability before the project is officially launched. We are at that stage right now.
But many projects never make it past this stage. Such is the case with the Apple Car, an autonomous electric vehicle the company has been working on for more than a decade. According to various media, the company abandoned the project because of focus on AI.
