Apple's future Smart Home Hub rumored with iPad-style display, and a robotic arm for $1000

Apple has reportedly been hard at work on new robotics technology for a number of years now, with its new Smart Home Hub to reportedly feature a robotic arm, and an AI assistant with its "own personality".

In reports from earlier this year, a new video was published on the Apple Machine Learning Research website that showed a robot prototype that looked like Pixar mascot Luxo Jr, interacting with the researcher in a lifelike way.

Fast-forward to today, with Bloomberg insider Mark Gurman writing in his recent Power On newsletter that "there's Apple's push into robotics, which will include a tabletop machine with a robotic arm (building on the company's still-pending plans for a smart home hub). That would feature an AI assistant with its own personality".

It would be kinda cool to see Apple release its Smart Home Hub with a robotic arm and call it the 'iRobot' -- not to be confused with the Hollywood flick starring Will Smith. Apple needs a big market shifter, after its colossal failure in not even starting up its smart car, and its huge flop with the Apple Vision Pro headset. The company needs a big win in another product category, yet has also been struggling with everything AI and is behind virtually every other big tech company in AI.

Gurman also writes that Apple has "other major new initiatives" on its road map, including a new product that will cross a foldable iPad with a touch-screen Mac, noting that it "likely won't arrive until 2028".