Apple Ring Rumors: What We've Heard About Apple's Work on a Smart Ring

[ignatius345]

The whole thing sounds so out of place, especially with Apple struggling to get meaningful health data on full wristwatch! Either it's an intern running ChatGPT on "McRumors-style paper on new Apple stuff noone has heard of", or maybe, early April Fool !?

Meanwhile, Apple makes more money on wearables/home/accessories than they do selling Macs.

Apple Reports 4Q 2023 Results: $23B Profit on $89.5B Revenue

Apple today announced financial results for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2023, which corresponds to the third calendar quarter of the year. For the...

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[ChedNasad]

I have no doubt Apple can execute on the hardware for something like this but as someone that has both had every generation of Oura ring and multiple Apple Watches, there just is very little chance they beat Oura on the software side. Apple watch tends to be incredibly accurate and I would expect no less from a ring. That said the actual ability to make use of the data from the watch in a way that is meaningful is severely lacking barring a few niche things like heart rate tracking. Their sleep staging is really good too but they lack actionable insights that I feel Oura has really nailed. That's not to say they wouldnt release some corresponding software that would be on par, but the lack thereof for the watch makes me think they likely wont.

If their ring does some really neat tricks beyond the passive health tracking stuff (apple pay, maybe as input for other devices or shortcuts) that might be enough to generate interest.

 

[Zwhaler]

How many people actually want this? Feels like Apple is looking for solutions in search of a problem. AVP is (somewhat) like this. After all, the Apple watch exists and occupies a competitive price range across the lineup.

More importantly, how many people here actually want a smart ring over a better Siri assistant? Apple's priorities aren't lining up with consumer desires and are gravitating towards trends to appease investors. Look no further than the $10B abandoned Apple car.

 

[Born Again]

Yup, if it happens I'll buy it. I don't like sleeping with my Ultra 2 on, and I've got some other nice mechanical watches I'd like to start using more again without losing all my health metrics. If they release it, that's exactly why. It's not a competitor to the Watch, it's a companion. I'll wait a bit to see what Oura do, because I'm set on a ring. It's just a case of which one.

Just curious do you even work out? What do you do with all the metrics?

 

[Born Again]

I love my Oura Ring Gen3 and use it religiously to track my sleep. Thankfully, because I bought the Gen2 first, I don't have to pay the monthly subscription.

What do you do with all the sleep data?

What’s your resting heart rate btw? Curious if you’re even an athlete or not.

 

[MichaelAdam]

Never say never … But for now I would say no thank you Tim …

 

[Wanted797]

Smart Ring? How about a Smart Siri first…

You might find this hard to believe.

But Apple can work on two products at once.

 

[xizdun]

What do you do with all the sleep data?

What’s your resting heart rate btw? Curious if you’re even an athlete or not.

I don't get the best quality of sleep because of a pre-existing health condition, so I often have to be in bed for 10–12 hours in order to get the recommended 8 hours of sleep. The Oura Ring also tracks REM and Deep sleep and calculates overall sleep quality. So it gives me an insight into what sort of day I'm going to have ahead if I've only had 4–7 hours of sleep the previous night. It also tracks my body temperature so I know I'm coming down with something when it alerts me about elevated temperature. I also like that Oura transmits my sleep data to Apple Health.

My resting heart rate is in the normal ranges. Not an athlete.

 

[ThailandToo]

How is this any different then if Steve Jobs was in charge? He was a marketing genius but he didn't invent any of Apple's innovations, and likely would be in the same situation as Cook is now.

When Steve was alive, his focus was always on the best experience whether that be one device like when the original iPhone was a revolutionary Internet communication device, a phone, and iPod Touch with multitouch widescreen display.

He was willing to toss in three in one solution. When the iPad was introduced and later marketed as “what’s a computer?” AAPL was not selling an ecosystem as much as a solution that may cannibalize the Mac (and many tech nerds were afraid) but Steve was okay with that using car and truck analogies.

The point is now Tim solely wants to add to the ecosystem not cannibalize a product by developing a new product category that does multiple things really great. MacOS on iPad would make Macs mostly useless and the price for an iPad would be worth it running a real OS.

 

[Beautyspin]

while I can see the appeal to some users, it was also be a competitor to the AW, so I don't know if Apple would go down that path.
Plus, most people look at a ring more as a piece jewelry, so guess what - Apple will price it accordingly

Exactly my feeling. Why would Apple develop a competitor to its product that does the exact same thing and is the category leader? Will it not cannibalize those sales?

 

[Surf Monkey]

I wear a mechanical watch on my wrist. I’ve been interested in mechanical/automatic watches since I was a little kid. Since then I’ve built up a nice collection of watches. They’re fascinating machines (basically the iPod of their time in terms of cutting edge miniaturization in a consumer product) and they’re fashion accessories. I will never cede that wrist space to an Apple product.

My fingers on the other hand? Wide open. Apple could do something really special with a ring. Something no one else is doing. People here scoff but the idea of a genuinely functional smart ring is very interesting.

 

[Surf Monkey]

Exactly my feeling. Why would Apple develop a competitor to its product that does the exact same thing and is the category leader? Will it not cannibalize those sales?

Because a significant number of people (like me) will never wear an Apple Watch. Simple as that. The device has a limitation on who it can be sold to.

 

[Surf Monkey]

Never say never … But for now I would say no thank you Tim …

If we want Tim to innovate this would be a good area to explore. They need another impulse buy. Like AirPods and AirPods Pro.

 

[Jay Tee]

I'm not big on Apple Watch myself, and could never sleep with a watch on my wrist. But an Apple Ring would really tempt me as a lightweight way to gather some health and activity metrics I'd like to know. I'd be even more interested if it did Apple Pay.

This is right on the money.

I hate the idea of wearing a watch 24-7 to get the most out of it, but a niche product, like a ring, with streamlined feature set would be a definite buy.

 

[Born Again]

I don't get the best quality of sleep because of a pre-existing health condition, so I often have to be in bed for 10–12 hours in order to get the recommended 8 hours of sleep. The Oura Ring also tracks REM and Deep sleep and calculates overall sleep quality. So it gives me an insight into what sort of day I'm going to have ahead if I've only had 4–7 hours of sleep the previous night. It also tracks my body temperature so I know I'm coming down with something when it alerts me about elevated temperature. I also like that Oura transmits my sleep data to Apple Health.

My resting heart rate is in the normal ranges. Not an athlete.

The oura will tell you more than the Apple Watch will ever tell you. So don’t think the apple ring would do anything different.

Apple collects data but does the bare minimum with it.

I appreciate garmin data. It tells you so much about recovery sleep feel etc.

What is a normal resting heart rate.

 

[Robert.Walter]

My first thought was whether we’d see another Apple Watch initial gen with the 20k gold model. Not sure we will now that Ive isn’t there and Apples stepped back a bit from that with the watch lineup. At least not to the extent the Watch initially chased that market.

Would be interesting to see what materials Apple would use still and how they’d price it accordingly. If it was released today, whether they’d have say a steel and Titanium models at different price points, for example.

Apple did the gold as a marketing exercise to raise awareness and build buzz.

 

[Star Brood]

If it is super duper cheap it would be a great proximit-unlocker for the iPhone. Unfortunately it will not be cheap, knowing Apple.

 

[MichaelAdam]

If we want Tim to innovate this would be a good area to explore. They need another impulse buy. Like AirPods and AirPods Pro.

Well at first he could launch aGlasses at a good price like Xreal . A HomePod with battery . A kids aWatch …

 

[NickTheo]

All I want is for it to provide haptic feedback for Vision Pro. if it could give you a satisfying little click every time you put thumb and forefinger together or a small vibration when you pull your two hands apart to zoom in it would make the device pretty perfect. It's just lacking that little bit of haptics for interactivity.

 

[Octavius8]

do we need a device to tell us we had a bad night?.
Perhaps a device to tell us when we had too many drinks would be a little more meaningful to the world.
On the interesting side, being a ring it could actually measure blood pressure during the day to provide trends!. That would be totally useful.

 

[dampfnudel]

Smart Ring? How about a Smart Siri first…

Maybe some people will finally have their wish come true this year. Then again, even if Smart Siri finally arrives, some of us may not care.

 

[dampfnudel]

Apple ring edition

Apple “put a ring on it” edition.

 

[MayaUser]

like with the car...this will remain a rumour until it will be "canceled"

 

[MayaUser]

I don’t wear a watch, and I’m sure as heck not going to wear a ring. First the car, and now this. Apple is determined to collapse on itself with these ridiculous products.

what car? Apple has a car?
I guess, you know the difference between a rumour about a product and an actual product

 

[MacsRgr8]

I must say this thread has turned into one of the funniest in MacRumors history thanks to all the creative responses! 😄