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Apple's Upcoming Home Hub Could Include 'Robotic Swiveling Base'

The home hub device that Apple plans to release as soon as this spring has a "robotic swiveling base," according to The Information's Wayne Ma. Ma mentioned the new detail in a piece outlining Apple's work on an AI pin.

Home Hub Command Center with Dome Base Feature

Apple is also working on a home product featuring a small display, speakers and a robotic swiveling base, designed with a heavy emphasis on AI features. That device could be released as soon as this spring, according to two of the people.

We've heard a lot of rumors about the home hub because it was supposed to launch in 2025, but to date, no rumors have suggested that it will have a swiveling robotic base. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously said that Apple is developing two versions of the hub, one that's meant to be mounted on the wall and another that has a HomePod mini-like speaker base that can be placed on a desktop or countertop.

No prior descriptions of the home hub base have suggested that it will have any kind of swivel function or that it will be robotic. In fact, the wording sounds similar to how Gurman has described Apple's tabletop robot, which will be a 2027 follow up to the home hub.

Gurman said the tabletop robot will have an iPad-like display mounted on a thin robotic arm that allows the display to tilt up and down and rotate 360 degrees. The device will be able to reposition itself to face whoever is speaking, and it is said to have a "visual personality."

Ma did not go into detail on the purpose of the robotic swiveling base, or how it will work, but presumably it would be able to move to face people. The home hub is supposed to have an array of sensors that let it determine when someone is in the room.

We are expecting the home hub to launch in the coming months, right around the time that Apple debuts iOS 26.4 with the upgraded version of Siri.

Top Rated Comments

millerlite Avatar
10 weeks ago
So tired of AI. This sounds fine, but I could do without the AI bloat. It’s so unnecessary
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
theinstructor Avatar
10 weeks ago
They cannot even get the Home app functions to work well as it is, now they need this? No. They need to fix their crap.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zc456 Avatar
10 weeks ago
Gimme an Apple Silicon-based Mac in a G4 shell, then we'll talk.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Michael Scrip Avatar
10 weeks ago

Just as an iPad is a computer for a person, this would be a computer for the house itself, like how the TV is.
We had that. I grew up in a house with a home computer. You went into the "computer room" to use the computer.

Today things are a lot different. We have computers in our pockets that you can use anywhere. And laptops and iPads can be taken around the house, too.

I understand the general idea of having a "home hub" in your house... but then I remember that we already have phones, tablets, and laptops that can do all this stuff and more. And you can use them anywhere.

So I'm not seeing the value in an iPad-like device that is stuck in one room of the house.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
10 weeks ago
The swivel action in the base will only be available via an Apple Subscription.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mrkevinfinnerty Avatar
10 weeks ago
Will it have AI? I only want it if it has AI. AI.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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