Apple on Monday introduced its subsequent product occasion, dubbed Glowtime, set to happen on Sept. 9 on the firm‘s Apple Park headquarters and streamed on-line. Because it has every fall, the corporate is predicted to unveil its subsequent iPhone, the iPhone 16, in addition to updates to its iOS working system.
Wanting past its {hardware} replace and aggressive transfer into generative AI, nevertheless, a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple is engaged on a “tabletop robotic” in addition to a model that may comply with the person, which might be just like Amazon’s cell Astro robotic. Gurman, in updating an earlier report from April, mentioned the brand new {hardware} may debut in two to 3 years.
Apple shifting into robotics wouldn’t be stunning, as lots of the different largest tech corporations are additionally creating robots—together with Telsa, Amazon, and NVIDIA. However some Apple watchers don’t see the purpose.
“My intestine feeling is that not one of the merchandise [Gurman] describes have the mass attraction Apple expects earlier than it greenlights a undertaking,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt, veteran journalist and editor-in-chief at Apple 3.0, advised Decrypt.
In accordance with the Apple-focused media outlet MacRumors, the Apple desktop robotic would probably function an iPad-like display hooked up to a base that will pivot to comply with the customers’ actions.
“Would you purchase an iPad hooked up to a robotic arm that would comply with you throughout Zoom calls?” Elmer-DeWitt continued. “The universe of people that may use such a factor is just too small for Apple to pursue.”
Apple didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Decrypt.
Whereas subsequent week’s Glowtime Apple occasion is specializing in iPhones, the tech large’s bulletins all the time carry an air of anticipation, with buyers and shoppers alike opining about what Apple will reveal subsequent. Whether or not or not that may sometime embrace a robotic stays to be seen.
“This feels a bit just like the automobile and the headset—the planting of a flag in what Apple thinks may sometime be a promising market,” Elmer-DeWitt mentioned. “They’ve extra disposable money than God, and definitely greater than most of their rivals.”
“If Gurman’s rumor begins a race to be first to market, a lot the higher for Apple,” he mentioned.
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