Apple's AI robot product suite is exposed: the "Pixar lamp" that can act and the "surveillance camera" that serves the whole family.
Do you also have this feeling?
Although the iPhone is updated every year, in the AI era, Apple seems to be half a step behind?
Don't be in a hurry. As Apple's fall conference approaches, another set of AI-related hardware revolutions is brewing inside Apple.
At a recent all-hands meeting, Tim Cook rarely let slip some information:
I can't say too much about the products, but you'll soon see some great things.
The latest news from well-known leaker Mark Gurman has lifted the curtain on this drama for us:
Apple is developing a series of smart home products to expand its AI competitiveness.
Specifically, they can be mainly divided into three categories:
- A HomePod with a screen
- A "Pixar Lamp" that can act
- A smart home camera
They share a common soul: AI Siri.
A "Pixar Lamp" that can act
Imagine your iPad mini coming to life.
This is the first impression the Apple desktop robot gives: a screen of about 7 inches is given a body that can think and move.
Its core is an electric mechanical arm about 15 cm long. With its help, the desktop robot will turn the screen towards you when you speak, just like a friend; when you walk around, its "gaze" will silently follow you; even when you ignore it, it will try to attract your attention.
This physical interaction ability has also given birth to a brand-new FaceTime calling experience. The camera can automatically track and lock the person you're talking to in the room, or turn your iPhone into a virtual joystick, allowing you to remotely control the robot's movement during a video call and freely show different people or objects in the room.
This desktop robot is codenamed J595 inside Apple, but those who are more familiar with it call it the "Pixar Lamp". This name comes from a robot research result called ELEGENT announced by Apple in January this year.
As reported by ifanr, ELEGENT is different from the anthropomorphic robots we're familiar with. It's a non-humanoid robot that looks like a lamp.
This robot can understand our body language and react to it to achieve a lifelike interaction.
The term "lifelike" may sound a bit mysterious, but in terms of performance, it's easy to find the difference between it and traditional machines.
Traditional robots complete instructions in a straight line. The amplitude of the programmed actions is so precise that there won't be an extra millimeter. However, ELEGENT moves in a curve. It will express intentions, show attention, display attitudes, and express emotions during the process, that is, it will "act" a little.
For example, when the user gives an instruction, ELEGENT will "look" at the user, tilt its head and nod from time to time, as if it's really listening attentively. In fact, the robot can still record and analyze the voice normally through the microphone without these actions.
When the user asks the robot about the weather, it will first peek in the direction of the window and then answer. In fact, it just retrieves the weather data online.
Perhaps Apple knows well that cold technology can hardly really touch people's hearts. So their goal is not to build a humanoid robot, but to endow these non-humanoid devices with rich "body language" and a sense of life.
Although these "performances" make it a little slower than ordinary robots in completing tasks, research shows that this emotional interaction method makes users more willing to interact with it, and the experience score is almost twice that of ordinary robots.
ELEGENT can be regarded as the preliminary research for the desktop robot. The interaction method of the desktop robot is likely to continue the same lifelike interaction.
According to the leaked information, this desktop robot is the core of the AI strategy and is expected to be launched in 2027, the year after next.
The HomePod with a screen and the smart camera
We still need to wait for the desktop robot, but before that, Apple has prepared another pioneer product to test the waters.
This device, codenamed J490 inside Apple, can be regarded as a simplified version of the desktop robot. It also uses a display of about 7 inches, but without the mechanical arm. It's connected to a semi-circular base, which also includes a speaker and a microphone.
iMac G4
It sounds a bit like the iMac G4, but in terms of positioning and core capabilities, it's more like a super HomePod with a screen:
First of all, it's a smart home hub that will become the brain to control all the smart home devices in the house. You can seamlessly control all HomeKit devices such as lights, curtains, and air conditioners through voice.
This desktop robot will also provide personalized services through facial recognition. The front camera can accurately recognize each family member. When the owner approaches, the screen will automatically switch to your exclusive interface, showing personalized schedules, reminders, and music preferences; if it's a child in the family approaching, it may become a learning machine.
In addition, it will also be an all-round life assistant deeply integrated into the Apple ecosystem, seamlessly integrating all basic applications such as music playback, video calls, recipe queries, and memo reminders to meet your daily needs.
This device is expected to be launched in the middle of 2026, marking Apple's official challenge to Amazon and Google's smart home devices.
Google has always been making such devices
In addition, Apple also plans a smart security camera, codenamed J450 inside the company. However, it's not for anti-theft purposes. Instead, it will become the "eyes" of the smart home.
This camera can recognize the people entering the room. If you come home, it will automatically turn on your favorite lights, play your usual playlist, or recommend your favorite shows; but if it's a child in the family turning on the TV, then Apple TV may play content suitable for children to watch; if the lights are still on when there's no one in the house, it will also kindly turn them off for you.
It can be said that this is a smart camera that can think. It can cooperate with all the HomeKit devices in the house and become the "all-seeing eye" at home. It's reported that this camera will be powered by a battery and can last for months or even up to a year on a single charge.
Infusing soul with AI Siri
Apple's AI hardware comes in various forms and is full of tricks, but there's only one name that truly infuses soul into them: Siri.
Inside Apple, the codename for this upgraded Siri is Linwood. It's based on Apple's own large language model (LLM), and its primary goal is to overcome the current version of Siri's delayed personal data processing ability due to technical bottlenecks.
Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, Craig Federighi, hinted at an internal meeting this month that this reform will be bigger than expected:
We will deliver an upgrade that's much more ambitious than originally envisioned. No project is more important than this one.
Judging from the current news, this new AI Siri will be more "human-like". For example, it can actively participate in group conversations. When you're discussing what to have for dinner with your friends, the Siri robot on the table may suddenly chime in and recommend nearby restaurants or relevant recipes, just like a third person in the room.
At the same time, Apple has also realistically prepared a Plan B - an external technology solution codenamed Glenwood, which advocates introducing third-party technology to drive Siri. This also explains why there are reports that Apple is testing the use of Anthropic's Claude.
Apple is designing a new visual image for Siri, codenamed "Bubbles" internally. In the test version, Siri is designed as an animated version of the Mac system Finder icon - that classic smiling face. The designers are also considering a cartoon image closer to Memoji.
It hasn't been decided which model will be used in the end. Mike Rockwell, the former head of Vision Pro who was appointed to be in charge of Siri earlier this year, is currently overseeing both the Linwood and Glenwood projects.
This new Siri may meet us as early as next spring. By then, our iPhones and iPads will also become smarter. The two new desktop robot devices will run a new operating system called "Charismatic", with a clock dial and widgets as the main interface, supporting multi - user mode and facial recognition switching.
Apple has high hopes for the robot product line and is very ambitious. This series of projects is led by Kevin Lynch, Apple's vice president of technology. Previously, he was in charge of Apple's smartwatch and the smart car project Project Titan.
Kevin Lynch
Not long ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook rarely convened an all - hands meeting at the Steve Jobs Theater.
You know, this venue is usually only used when releasing top - tier new products such as the iPhone, which shows the importance of this meeting.
Cook said bluntly at the meeting that the revolution of AI is no less significant than that of the Internet and smartphones, and he clearly stated:
Apple must do it, and will definitely do it. We must seize this opportunity.
The implication is clear - Apple doesn't aim to be the first, but to define the future standards.
In the past year, Apple has been recruiting a large number of AI talents and developing more powerful server chips on its own to build its AI empire from the hardware foundation. Apple's high - profile entry into the physical robot field also reflects to some extent that Apple has fallen into a relatively passive state in the core battlefield of generative AI (large models and algorithms).
However, as Cook said, in many of its past successes, Apple wasn't always the pioneer:
We're rarely the first. There were PCs before the Mac, and smartphones before the iPhone. The key is that we invented their modern versions.
Not first, but best.