Reportedly, Apple is developing various wearables meant to be worn on or near your body. These include a fitness ring to track vital signs, smart glasses without AR, and AirPods with cameras and additional sensors.
Samsung recently unveiled a smart ring, and now there are rumors swirling that Apple might be developing a fitness ring too. This news was shared in the latest edition of Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter. Along with the ring, Apple is reportedly exploring the idea of glasses and AirPods with a built-in camera to increase sales of wearables in 2023. Apple saw a drop in sales overall in 2023, and they hope these more affordable wearables will help turn things around. Gurman also mentioned that Apple hasn’t confirmed yet which products will actually be released.
Smart Ring
There’s a rumor going around that Apple is developing a smart ring, possibly in response to Samsung’s Galaxy Ring. Some say this might have pushed Samsung to announce their ring quickly, to be first. Apple’s ring is aimed at fitness and tracks important health metrics. It’s made for folks who don’t want to wear an Apple Watch for different reasons, like not needing all its features or finding it uncomfortable to wear to bed, but still want sleep tracking functions.
A few years ago, Apple’s design team pitched the idea of a ring to management, but it never went beyond just an idea. “The company isn’t actively working on such a accessory, but there are definitely folks at Apple who like the idea,” said Gurman. So, it doesn’t seem like the ring will be available anytime soon. While Oura Health has been offering a smart ring with health features for a while now, it’s still a niche product for the time being.
For years, Oura Health has been selling a smart ring with health features, but it’s still not widely known. For instance, you can’t buy it at regular electronics stores in the Netherlands. Instead, you’ll find the Ultrahuman Ring for $349, which has positive reviews but isn’t as well-known as Oura.
Already Announced: the Samsung Galaxy Ring
Samsung’s Galaxy Ring might set the stage for Apple’s entry into the market. It’s set to launch in 2024 and comes in three colors: platinum, black, and gold. Plus, there will be different sizes available, with larger ones having a bigger battery.
But Samsung isn’t just thinking of the ring as a simple wearable. They see it as part of a bigger idea of “ambient sensing.” This means it’s not just one device taking measurements; it’s a whole bunch of connected gadgets all over your body and in your home. For instance, your ring, watch, phone, and even your fridge all work together. They might remind you if you’ve been eating too much fast food lately, giving you a better understanding of your health overall instead of bombarding you with lots of random data.
The ring gathers information to figure out your readiness score for Samsung Health. This tells you if you’ve rested enough to start working out again. Besides, it gives you details about your sleep, heart rate, activity, breathing, and cycle. Samsung also calculates your My Vitality Score based on your sleep, activity level, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability. They plan to add this feature to the Samsung Galaxy Watch later this year. Samsung aims to encourage you to stay active by using what they call “Booster Cards.”
Smart glasses as an alternative to AirPods
There are rumors that Apple is developing smart glasses, but without augmented reality features. These might be regular glasses with clear screens, like the Meta Ray Ban glasses. They come with speakers, cameras, and extra sensors, but no actual display screen. These glasses have a longer battery life than AirPods and include AI features. With these glasses, you can listen to audio and give voice commands all day long, similar to the open earbuds we recently tested.
Furthermore, Apple is reportedly still working on a version of the Vision Pro glasses that resemble regular eyeglasses. But until that technology is ready, they might create basic glasses with speakers and cameras. These glasses could also include some health sensors. Making them look more like typical glasses could make users more comfortable wearing them. Initially, this project was in the concept stage, but now it’s moved to the exploratory phase within the hardware engineering division, known as ‘technology investigation.’ This means prototypes are already in the works, but it might be a while before they’re ready for mass production, if they go ahead with it at all.
AirPods with Cameras and Sensors
For years, there have been discussions about AirPods with sensors to track your health. These are still being worked on and are known by the code name B798. They come with cameras and various sensors. Apple has been looking into the technical side of these AirPods since 2023. However, patents show that Apple was thinking about AirPods with health sensors as far back as 2018. They were also exploring ambient light sensors, which are small cameras like the ones in current AirPods. These cameras collect data that can be analyzed using AI to help people with their daily activities, according to Gurman.
It’s unclear which of these new wearables will come out first. Right now, Apple seems to be banking on the success of the Vision Pro.
Sources:
Apple Ponders Whether to Develop Smart Glasses, Fitness Ring
Samsung has big ambitions for the Galaxy Ring
Apple’s wearables: smart ring, smart glasses and AirPods with camera
Emma Waterhouse
Publicist & Partner – BlogGenre
