Apple Robot Rumors Swell—But Would One Actually Sell?

Apple on Monday announced its next product event, dubbed Glowtime, set to take place on Sept. 9 at the company‘s Apple Park headquarters and streamed online. As it has each fall, the company is expected to unveil its next iPhone, the iPhone 16, as well as updates to its iOS operating system.

Looking beyond its hardware update and aggressive move into generative AI, however, a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple is working on a “tabletop robot” as well as a version that can follow the user, which could be similar to Amazon’s mobile Astro robot. Gurman, in updating an earlier report from April, said the new hardware could debut in two to three years.

Apple moving into robotics would not be surprising, as many of the other largest tech companies are also developing robots—including Telsa, Amazon, and NVIDIA. But some Apple watchers don’t see the point.

“My gut feeling is that none of the products [Gurman] describes have the mass appeal Apple expects before it greenlights a project,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt, veteran journalist and editor-in-chief at Apple 3.0, told Decrypt.

According to the Apple-focused media outlet MacRumors, the Apple desktop robot would potentially feature an iPad-like screen attached to a base that would pivot to follow the users’ movements.

“Would you buy an iPad attached to a robot arm that could follow you during Zoom calls?” Elmer-DeWitt continued. “The universe of people who might use such a thing is too small for Apple to pursue.”

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Decrypt.

While next week’s Glowtime Apple event is focusing on iPhones, the tech giant’s announcements always carry an air of anticipation, with investors and consumers alike opining about what Apple will reveal next. Whether or not that will someday include a robot remains to be seen.

“This feels a little like the car and the headset—the planting of a flag in what Apple thinks might someday be a promising market,” Elmer-DeWitt said. “They have more disposable cash than God, and certainly more than most of their competitors.”

“If Gurman’s rumor starts a race to be first to market, so much the better for Apple,” he said.