Apple has 'several hundred people' working on HomePod with robotic display

According to a new report from reliable Apple tipster Mark Gurman, Apple now has a team of several hundred people working on a new home device. Code-named J595, the tabletop device would use a thin robotic arm to control a large display, with actuators that allow it to spin 360 degrees or tilt up and down.

In other words, it could be thought of as a sort of HomePod with a display that can turn and tilt to follow users, or an iPad on a robot arm.

Obviously, with a large touch display the device would have a lot more capability than a current HomePod and may not even carry that brand name. Gurman’s sources say the device is envisioned as a “smart home command center, videoconferencing machine, and remote-controlled home security tool.”

The first two seem obvious–that’s the Home app and FaceTime and we would expect it on any significant Apple device with a display. But the home security tools bit seems interesting; perhaps users will get notifications when nobody is home and the device detects people or other events, and can view what it sees from their iPhones, moving the camera/screen to get the view they want.

The device was apparently approved by the executive team back in 2022 and counts Tim Cook and John Ternus among its biggest advocates. Still, it is not expected to be released until 2026 or 2027, and with an expected price tag of around $1,000 it will have to have far greater capabilities than similar devices like the Echo Show 10 or discontinued Meta Portal.