Apple Inc. has teams investigating a push into personal robotics, a field with the potential to become one of the company’s ever-shifting “next big things,” according to people familiar with the situation.
With robotics, Apple could gain a bigger foothold in consumers’ homes and capitalize on advances in artificial intelligence. But it’s not yet clear what approach it might take. Still, Apple hasn’t committed to either project as a company, and the work is still considered to be in the early research phase. A spokeswoman declined to comment.
The table-top robotics project first excited senior Apple executives a few years ago, including hardware engineering chief John Ternus and members of the industrial design team. There have also been technical challenges related to balancing the weight of a robotic motor on a small stand. A car had the potential to add hundreds of billions of dollars to Apple’s revenue, in part because the vehicles were expected to sell for roughly $100,000 a pop.
The company debuted a more business-focused version of the rolling bot last year designed to work as a security guard. The project also laid the groundwork for the Vision Pro because Apple investigated the use of virtual reality while driving. And at least one former hardware team from the shuttered car project was recently repurposed to the work on home devices and robotics.