What happened
Report Provider: Ars Technica, citing Bloomberg's Mark Gurman
Date of Report: August 14, 2025 (Published Date)
This report details Apple's evolving smart home strategy, suggesting ambitions that go beyond a simple screen-equipped HomePod. The primary revelation is the development of a "tabletop robot" device.
Rumors about a touchscreen-equipped smart home device from Apple have been circulating for years, periodically bolstered by leaked references in Apple's software updates. But a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman indicates that Apple's ambitions might extend beyond HomePods with screens attached.Gurman claims that Apple is working on a "tabletop robot" that "resembles an iPad mounted on a movable limb that can swivel and reposition itself to follow users in a room."
The device will also turn toward people who are addressing it or toward people whose attention it's trying to get. Prototypes have used a 7-inch display similar in size to an iPad mini, with a built-in camera for FaceTime calls.Apple is reportedly targeting a 2027 launch for some version of this robot, although, as with any unannounced Apple product, it could come out earlier, later, or not at all.
Gurman reported in January that a different smart home device—essentially a HomePod with a screen, without the moving robot parts—was being planned for 2025, but has said more recently that Apple has bumped it to 2026. The robot could be a follow-up to or a fancier, more expensive version of that device, and it sounds like both will run the same software.
Source coverage
Report Provider: Ars Technica, citing Bloomberg's Mark Gurman
Date of Report: August 14, 2025 (Published Date)
Deeper analysis
Full source content
Rumors about a touchscreen-equipped smart home device from Apple have been circulating for years, periodically bolstered by leaked references in Apple's software updates. But a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman indicates that Apple's ambitions might extend beyond HomePods with screens attached.Gurman claims that Apple is working on a "tabletop robot" that "resembles an iPad mounted on a movable limb that can swivel and reposition itself to follow users in a room."
The device will also turn toward people who are addressing it or toward people whose attention it's trying to get. Prototypes have used a 7-inch display similar in size to an iPad mini, with a built-in camera for FaceTime calls.Apple is reportedly targeting a 2027 launch for some version of this robot, although, as with any unannounced Apple product, it could come out earlier, later, or not at all.
Gurman reported in January that a different smart home device—essentially a HomePod with a screen, without the moving robot parts—was being planned for 2025, but has said more recently that Apple has bumped it to 2026. The robot could be a follow-up to or a fancier, more expensive version of that device, and it sounds like both will run the same software.
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