Smart vacuum company Roborock this week showed off its latest vacuum, the Roborock Saros z70. The vacuum is Matter-enabled, which means when it launches, it should be able to connect to an Apple HomeKit setup.
Apple promised to add support for robot vacuums in iOS 18, and it looks like that functionality is going to come in iOS 18.3, an update that's on track to be released later this month. There are a few Matter-enabled robot vacuums already on the market, but the Roborock Saros z70 has a unique feature -- an arm that's able to pick up and move objects out of its path.
The foldable, five-axis mechanical arm pops out of the robot's housing and can be used to pick up items less than 300g like shoes, trash, and dirty laundry to allow the floor underneath to be vacuumed. It can move the items to their designated household locations, putting shoes away, for example.
There are built-in cameras that are able to detect objects and obstacles, along with several other bells and whistles. The vacuum can track down pets and send photos, it can lift itself over small bumps and thick carpet, and it has FlexiArm side brushes to get dirt out of corners. There's also a mopping feature, so it can both vacuum and wash floors.
With the Roborock app, the Saros z70 can be manually controlled for a view of the house, to interact with pets, and so the user can pick up and move objects using the built-in arm.
Pricing on the Roborock Saros z70 hasn't been announced, but high-end robot vacuums can cost upward of $1,500, so it would not be surprising to see an even higher price tag. Roborock plans to release the vacuum this spring.
