Will Apple make a robot vacuum cleaner? (It already could)

Apple had promised HomeKit support for robot vacuum cleaners would be introduced this year, but that date has now slipped into 2025. That’s not really such a big deal, but it set me thinking how, with automated home devices now on the company’s to do list, if an Apple robot vacuum was such a bad idea.

Why would it make sense?

Apple can bring a unique product

For me, the biggest reason you might choose an Apple vacuum cleaner above those from other manufacturers is privacy.

We know that some of these things gather and use maps of people’s houses in order to operate, and we can’t always be 100% sure what happens to that information, or – once it is collated – the extent to which it is vulnerable to exfiltration in some way.

Apple’s security and privacy by design approach could make a huge difference here.

But Apple has other advantages it could play.

After all, how much processing power does a vacuum cleaner need?

Apple has its chips

I imagine Apple’s recycling efforts mean it has piles of slightly older A-series chips it could put inside these devices. The imminent introduction of Apple’s home-made 5G chips mean the company could think about creating systems that can potentially be used to clean vast warehouses as well as homes, using private 5G to protect data.

Then there’s LiDAR.

Look, we know Apple was developing technologies to support Apple Car.

Autonomous Car = Autonomous Vacuum

That means it has almost certainly built systems that let autonomous vehicles navigate complex environments relatively safely.

Did it get that right? Certainly, that kind of safety is paramount for a giant mass of moving metal, but perhaps they can also be used to empower an autonomous vacuum cleaner.

Combined with Apple’s existing technologies, in theory, at least, it might mean that rather than requiring training, an Apple vacuum would be more able to find its own way around any environment, using LiDAR to navigate people, furniture, animals, and anything else.

This would only be the same tech Apple has already made for cars but used differently.

And why not think different about how to deploy this technology, having spent billions creating it?

But why stop there?

This kind of robot (and it is a robot) could have other features built-in.

It could contain a HomePod speaker system to provide music in any room you needed it in; it could have a built-in HomeKit video camera, so a remote homeowner (or warehouse manager) could be alerted if something unexpected happens at home and take a look to see what’s happening. It could have feet to climb the stairs.

More private, more intelligent, more well-featured, what’s not to like about a device like this?

Not to mention that the built-in autonomous navigation capability would make such a device just as useful in warehouses, shopping malls, schools or anywhere else you happen to need regular cleaning. You could even have a range of add-ons, such as a built-in router for some locations (factories or perhaps schools) that rely on 5G for their internet connection.

Apple’s Home Help

The Apple system’s built in capacity for object recognition could be of huge benefit to anyone managing some form of disability, for example, perhaps helping those with limited sight more easily manage their way around their kitchen.

Existing iPhone features (such as the capacity to identify fire alarms) could also mean the Apple home robot could save lives. That makes this machine quite a good fit to support elderly people who want to continue to live independently.

Of course, in all of these cases the fact that Apple builds products that are private and secure by design becomes one of the major selling points for this purported hardware, which borrows from the best and most relevant solutions Apple has already created.

It should be clear that Apple has so many of the building blocks it needs to make something like this happen. That doesn’t mean it will do so, of course, but if it was thinking about it, I’m thinking a vacuum cleaner might be a good place to start.

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