The Apple rumour mill is pumping yet again, but this time for items that never made the production line. According to a new report, the iPhone maker could have expanded its wearable division with the addition of a smart ring, smart glasses and maybe AirPods with a camera.
Bloomberg’s Apple expert Mark Gurman said while these items are currently not in production, there are people at the Cupertino headquarters who were gunning for them to be made.
This development doesn’t come as a shock as Samsung is most likely, close to 100 per cent unveiling a smart ring at MWC and smart glasses are slowly but surely coming back too.
Let’s start with the smart ring murmurs, Gurman explained that a few years ago Apple designers presented an idea to the executives around a new smart ring. The accessory will pull features from the Apple Watch and embed them into a ring.
Gurman said the glasses will take some of the tech from the Vision Pro and pop it into sunglasses. These glasses will most likely be similar to the Meta Ray Bans and the Echo Glasses but could replace AirPods entirely by embedding speakers in the frames.
The smart glasses could also have AI and augmented reality features which would coincide with the company’s aims to bolster an AR-powered world.
With 10 per cent of Apple’s revenue coming from wearables aka AirPods and Apple Watches, Gurman noted this could be a smart business move.
“Wearable devices can help the company reach new customers, boost growth and keep people even more locked into the Apple ecosystem than they already are,” he said.
The AirPods with a camera, the most intriguing idea out of the three, is in talks to have more “advanced AI and health sensors” with the rumoured camera. Gurman explained that this development could be an alternative option to smart glasses, so people can go without the frames and lenses.
I think Apple needs to zhoosh up its offerings, yes the Apple Vision Pro is the company’s newest product in years, but it’s so expensive and more gimmicky than an everyday product like an iPhone or Apple Watch.
It would be nice to see something fun and fresh from the Cupertino company that could be used daily.
While this is all previous explorations with Gurman saying they may “never see the light of day”, it is still interesting to note that Apple is very much working hard to release something different or just a competing product (cough, Oura Ring, cough).
Now this is all speculation and hearsay so if we hear anything more concrete we will report on it.
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