Earlier this year, reports emerged that Apple was planning a foray into the home robotics space with research being conducted within its hardware engineering division and its AI and machine-learning group.

Now, more details are emerging about the direction Apple is taking with that rumoured device which is expected to be a tabletop home gadget that combines an iPad-like display with a robotic limb.

With a team of several hundred people now working on its development, the device uses a thin robotic arm to move around a large screen.

The product relies on actuators to tilt the display up and down and make it spin 360 degrees, according to Bloomberg.

Codenamed J595, it is being positioned as a smart home command centre, videoconferencing machine and remote-controlled home security tool.

Apple is aiming for a debut of the product in either 2026 or 2027. It wants to keep the price down to around A$1,515, with some members of its teams contending that a higher price point will not encourage users to adopt the new product.

Leading the project is one of Apple’s top executives, Kevin Lynch. Lynch oversaw the Apple self-driving car project which has now been shelved. Until recently, he was also in charge of the development of the company’s smartwatch and health software. He reports to John Giannandrea who heads Apple’s artificial intelligence.

Tim Cook greets customers at Apple Jing’an in Shanghai (Image: Sourced from Apple Newsroom)

Tim Cook greets customers at Apple Jing’an in Shanghai (Image: Sourced from Apple Newsroom)

Lynch has in turn pulled human resources who helped launch the Apple Watch to now work on the tabletop robot.

Also, Matt Costello, an executive who leads the development of Apple’s HomePod smart speaker development is reportedly overseeing the hardware side of the project.

In addition to a a tabletop robot, the company is reportedly working on robots that move around the home and has discussed the idea of a humanoid version. Those projects are being led by Hanns Wolfram Tappeiner, a robotics expert who now has about 100 former car team engineers reporting to him.

In a recent job listing, 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.

If the robotics team is successful and does develop a product that is widely accepted by the market, it could open a whole new revenue stream for the company.

Already, plans are being floated for a paid version of its upcoming Apple Intelligence product which will allow the company to monetise some of its new software offerings.

Apart from the robot, the other products that the company is believed to be working on include augmented reality glasses, smart glasses similar to Meta’s Ray-Ban spectacles, a version of its AirPods earbuds that include cameras, and a giant foldable iPad that might arrive before 2027 or 2028, if its development does go through all the way.