Science & Tech · AI · 3 hrs ago
Apple researchers use a Mac mini to control an autonomous humanoid robot
Apple researchers developed a system to guide a Unitree G1 humanoid robot through unfamiliar rooms.
The robot carries an M4 Pro Mac mini that plans its movements onboard, without cloud computing or a remote operator.
The system uses cameras to understand its surroundings and can follow instructions such as finding a chair and sitting down.
Apple trained it with about 300 hours of simulated movement in 1,000 virtual rooms, rather than having people steer it to collect training data.
It completed 91% of tested tasks, including moving through a partly open door and crouching under a table.
The work matters because it aims to help robots handle ordinary rooms they have not seen before, rather than perform only pre-planned moves.
Apple researchers described a system that uses a Mac mini to control a Unitree G1 humanoid robot.
The system, called HALO, lets the robot navigate unfamiliar rooms and respond to instructions without remote steering.
An M4 Pro Mac mini with 64GB of RAM is carried on the robot’s back and runs the models that plan its actions.
Researchers trained the system mainly with simulated movement data in 1,000 computer-generated rooms.
Apple reported a 91% success rate across 360 trials involving six skills.
- Who
- Apple researchers developed the system for a Unitree G1 humanoid robot.
- What
- The system uses a Mac mini to run models that help the robot perceive rooms and plan movements.
- When
- The article was published on November 9, 2026.
- Where
- The robot was tested in real-world environments and simulated rooms. The real-world test locations are not specified.
- Why
- The researchers aimed to help a humanoid robot complete useful tasks in unfamiliar rooms, such as finding a chair and sitting down.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Researchers trained the system with about 300 hours of simulated humanlike movement across 1,000 computer-generated rooms.
The robot completed 91% of 360 trials across six skills, including sitting on a chair and stepping through a half-open door.
- Robot
- Unitree G1
- Onboard computer
- M4 Pro Mac mini with 64GB RAM
- Training data
- About 300 hours of simulated humanlike movement
- Virtual rooms
- 1,000
- Trial results
- 91% success across 360 trials
- Test skills
- Six
What people are saying
Humanoid robots can somersault, dance, and run,
Yet none of them can be invited into an unfamiliar living room and asked to sit down.
They are agile but blind: a backflip is choreographed in advance and executed against geometry the robot never has to perceive,
Posts on X
Apple is building humanoid robot brains. Apple researchers have published HALO, a system that lets a Unitree G1 humanoid move around rooms it has never seen before. Tell it to “go sit on the chair” and it finds the chair, walks over and sits down. It can also crouch or crawl