Apple's new CEO, John Ternus, is aggressively pushing the company's robotics initiatives, but the first-generation home robot project J595, which he oversees, is encountering significant headwinds. The project was initiated in 2019, and the hardware blueprint was finalized two years ago. However, software development has fallen behind schedule, features have been repeatedly pared down, the originally planned price point of around $1,000 may rise, and the launch date has been postponed multiple times—from this year to next year at the earliest, and potentially as late as 2028. Apple lacks experience in developing an entirely new product category from the ground up, its AI progress has been slow, and it simultaneously faces rapid moves by competitors such as OpenAI, Meta, and Tesla in the AI hardware and robotics space. J595 has been in development for nearly a decade, with its positioning repeatedly adjusted and its leadership changed several times. These setbacks, compounded by insufficient in-house AI capabilities, poor cross-team collaboration, and a shortage of specialized talent, have made progress fraught with difficulties. Currently, Apple is still exploring other forms of robots. Ternus has a strong interest in the direction of household chore-specific robots and is championing a strategy of streamlined teams and accelerated execution. Nevertheless, the team still faces the tension between launch pace and rising market expectations, and some members worry that the product will repeat the pattern of tepid market response to previous new products.