According to a new research note from famed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, "Apple is exploring both humanoid and non-humanoid robots for its future smart home ecosystem, and these products are still in the early proof-of-concept (POC) stage internally. While the industry debates the merits of humanoid vs. non-humanoid designs, supply chain checks indicate Apple cares more about how users build perception with robots than their physical appearance (so Apple uses anthropomorphic instead of humanoid), implying sensing hardware and software serve as the core technologies.

The timeline from POC to formal kick-off varies. Given current progress and typical development cycles, Apple's robot mass production likely won't start until 2028 or later. Interestingly, Apple has been unusually open about sharing some of its robotics research during the early POC stage—possibly to attract talent.

People often hear about stages like NPI, EVT, and MP when discussing Apple’s product development, but POC tends to fly under the radar. Essentially, POC is Apple's testing ground, verifying whether product ideas and core technologies are viable before formal kick-off. Apple's rumored foldable phone is currently in the POC stage. However, many projects never progress beyond POC—the Apple Car is probably the most notable example of a project that got stuck at this stage."

Well before Apple's smart robotic lamp video came to light, Patently Apple covered two Apple patents (01 and 02) regarding a smart robotic lamp. One patent  report clearly illustrated that the robotic lamp would have projector capabilities, as illustrated in our cover graphic, which is an actual patent figure. This wasn't shown in Apple's demo video which goes to show that Apple is still exploring added features to make this robot a killer device.