Apple is preparing three new home gadgets: a screen hub for controlling appliances, a room camera, and a desktop robot with a movable screen. All of them are planned to be assembled in Vietnam to reduce dependence on China.
Apple is preparing three new home gadgets: a screen hub for controlling appliances, a room camera, and a desktop robot with a movable screen. All of them are planned to be assembled in Vietnam to reduce dependence on China.
According to Bloomberg, the first to go on sale will be a home hub with an approximately 7-inch display — in the spring of 2026. This is a separate device for the home: it will control lighting and music, show FaceTime video calls and notifications. There will be two versions: desktop (the screen stands on a column stand) and wall-mounted. The device will recognize who has approached and adjust the menu. The estimated price is about $350. The premiere was postponed because Apple is finalizing the updated Siri with better application management and searching for answers from the Internet.
The second new product will be an indoor surveillance camera. It is planned to be shown at the end of 2026. The camera will become part of the «smart home» ecosystem and will work together with the hub.
The third product was a desktop robot. It has a larger, approximately 9-inch screen on a motorized «arm» that rotates the display to follow the user (for example, in the kitchen or on the desktop). Inside is a more «conversational» Siri and other artificial intelligence functions. Due to the complex mechanism and the search for truly useful scenarios, the launch was postponed to 2027. The expected price is several hundred dollars.
BYD will help assemble the new products. This is a well-known Chinese manufacturer of electric vehicles and a long-time Apple contractor. The company will take on the final assembly, testing, and packaging in Vietnam. Apple also plans to expand iPad production there. To reduce the cost of the hub and work, Tianma LCD panels will be used. It will not be possible to completely avoid tariffs: imports from Vietnam to the US are currently subject to a 20% tariff. In parallel, iPhones for the US are increasingly being assembled in India, and some Macs in Malaysia and Thailand.
Beck. Vietnam has already become a key hub for Apple, where it makes some of its AirPods, Apple Watch, Macs, and previous HomePods. Moving the launch of a new category immediately outside of China is an unusual move for the company. It shows how important it is for Apple to expand its manufacturing footprint after supply chain disruptions and amid tariff risks. If the hub hits the mark in terms of price and convenience, and the robot gets clear scenarios, it could be the biggest update to Apple’s home lineup since the first HomePod.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how Apple officially presented the new 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 processor. The company calls it «the next big step in the development of artificial intelligence on the Mac.» The laptop’s autonomy has increased to 24 hours of operation on a single charge.
