In response to criticism that Apple has missed the boat on the AI revolution, the company is reportedly working on a new tabletop AI "companion" that could hit the market in two years, as well as home-security cameras, and a smart speaker with a display.

Apple is looking to beef up its hardware pipeline, as growth has slowed for its signature products like the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and laptops. And this week Bloomberg reports that Apple has been quietly working on moving into the home-security market, and building a smart speaker with a display, in order to expand the ecosystem of products that it can link together and sell to customers.

Also, the company is reportedly working on a "lifelike version of Siri" that would be a tabletop robot "companion" of sorts with some sort of robotic arm, though the specs and capabilities of this remain under wraps. This AI device is said by sources who spoke to Bloomberg to be at the center of the company's product strategy going forward, with a release date in 2027.

No one from Apple has officially commented on any of this.

"The conventional wisdom is that Apple is lagging right now," says Bloomberg tech reporter Mark Gurman. "It has no future, the product pipeline is very limited, they're struggling in AI, the world is ending, and Tim Cook should be fired as CEO."

As Gurman notes, Apple is, at its heart, a hardware company, and giving a jolt of new energy to the hardware pipeline is central to the company's future success — particularly as other companies have caught up in the smartphone realm.

Gurman notes that "multiple new versions of Siri" are in the works, and the company is moving into the smart home space, as well as building new devices like glasses, headsets, and "foldables."

The first of these new products, in the already existing HomePod line of smart speakers, would be a smart speaker with a display that is expected to hit the market in 2026 — and it will no doubt be unveiled in a splashy Apple product launch, perhaps next spring or fall.

Most employees within Apple still haven't seen any versions of these products in development, but perhaps the leak to Bloomberg was strategic — Apple's stock price bounced up following the news, peaking Thursday morning at $234 per share, after trading as low as $172 back in April.

As Tim Cook told employees at an all-hands meeting earlier this month, per Bloomberg, "The product pipeline — which I can’t talk about — it’s amazing, guys. It’s amazing. Some of it you’ll see soon. Some of it will come later. But there’s a lot to see."

Previously: Apple Shareholders Scoff at Think Tank Proposal to Scrap DEI Programs

Photo by Tron Le