Apple’s reported next step in home hardware is not a humanoid helper folding laundry. It is a mobile screen on wheels — and its proposed price may be the hardest part to sell.

The project, codenamed J595, reportedly traces back to prototypes that emerged in 2018 and were approved to continue under former chief executive Tim Cook. Under new CEO John Ternus, Apple is said to be pressing ahead with household robotics, beginning with a device designed to roam a home, host FaceTime calls and turn on lights when someone enters a room. It could be branded HomeView Ultra, alongside Apple’s stationary HomeView display. ¹

The current target is 2027, though development delays could shift a launch to 2028. The reported price: “$1,000 or more.” That puts Apple’s proposed robot well above the kind of smart-home hardware it would complement — while asking buyers to accept an unusually narrow first use case. ¹

Apple’s apparent answer is that J595 must become more than a “fancy way to make FaceTime calls.” Engineers have reportedly spent years refining its software and adding AI capabilities in an effort to justify the cost. But the sceptical view is equally clear: lights, video calls and basic household automation are already widely available, while robot vacuums have a more obvious daily job. ¹

The project also appears to illustrate the imbalance in Apple’s robotics effort. The company reportedly has about 10 “true roboticists,” compared with roughly 300 people on the software side, after departures from the original engineering group. Ternus is also said to support a separate effort aimed at practical chores such as folding clothes — a technically more demanding path that could require robotic arms. ¹

For now, a limited-purpose roaming device may be safer and more achievable than a general-purpose robot operating around people. Yet Apple still has to answer the commercial question: can convenience, AI and an Apple badge make a $1,000 mobile FaceTime machine feel essential?