Forget the Apple Car Apple's next big thing may be the world of home robots

Bloomberg reports that Apple is developing a robot that will follow users around their homes and help them with small tasks It looks a bit like Amazon's Astro, which has been shown off at several different events over the past few years

If Apple is indeed working on such a product, it could be an arms race to see which company can be the first to bring a robot to market Since Apple's product is still in its early stages, while Amazon has already begun to show off its product, it is clear that Amazon is well ahead of the pack In fact, it is so early in the process that it may suffer the same fate as the company's electric car and never see the light of day

And it's not just Apple and Amazon; a startup called Figure is working on giving ChatGPT a body that can even hand out a glass of water Clearly robotics is the next big thing, but whether it will be the next big thing after Apple remains to be seen

Of course, first is not everything Because an expensive product like a personal assistant robot needs to be built well

Apple is also reportedly working on an advanced tabletop device that uses robotics to move the display, pushing the company further into the smart home and robotics arena

According to the report, Apple's robotics development is taking place within Apple's hardware engineering department and AI and machine learning group Executives Matt Costello and Brian Lynch, who are currently working on Apple's home products, are reportedly involved in the project

Apple declined to comment on the project, which is not entirely surprising, as the company would want to attract attention by announcing its entry into home robotics at an important event, as it usually does

According to a Bloomberg report, "The original concept of the robot was a device that could move completely on its own without human intervention, like a car, and serve as a video conferencing tool" Apple is also exploring the ability for the robot to perform household chores like washing dishes, but that may be a decade away

All of this comes shortly after Apple unveiled its Vision Pro mixed reality headset It is clear that the company is not satisfied with its iPhone, iPad, and Mac releases for the foreseeable future, and entering the home robotics space makes a lot of sense for the company

Ever since Steve Jobs led the company, the company has been looking for the "next big thing" Or it could be something that people consider too weird to put in their homes Only time will tell