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Apple Ring Rumors: What We've Heard About Apple's Work on a Smart Ring
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Siri: The Master is nice..., No, wait! the Master is evil, he wants our Precious!
will it have notifications?
and when you set a notification sound, will it be called a…ringtone?
…alright, I’ll grab my coat and I’m out…
and when you set a notification sound, will it be called a…ringtone?
…alright, I’ll grab my coat and I’m out…
Pretty smart. iPhone came out when I was a senior in high school… everyone around me just got married a few years ago, and still are. They’ve got their target audience.
20 rings of power were created: three Air for the elves, seven Pro for the dwarves, nine Max for the race of men, and one Ultra for the Dark Lord to “rule them all."
I can see it being a good companion to an Apple Watch or a good alternative to those that do not want a smart watch.
I have the AWU and would consider the ring as a good supplementary way of gathering health data and fitness data.
If they can take the best attributes of most smart rings and add the best of Apple interaction it could be a good thing.
I have the AWU and would consider the ring as a good supplementary way of gathering health data and fitness data.
If they can take the best attributes of most smart rings and add the best of Apple interaction it could be a good thing.
I’d replace my watch with this and go back to using analog watches. I LOVE the ability to use Apple Pay with my watch and the sleep/health tracking features. I dislike the notifications and the battery life (even on the Ultra 2). If this could retain the features of the watch I like while extending battery life and it’s cheaper, I’d definitely consider it.
This doesn't make sense. I can't see where this would fit in Apple's strategy. They've been building up to a wearable trinity that'll take them well into the future.
1. Apple Watch as the primary personal device. Contains the AI capable bionic processor for interacting with a future Siri LLM on device and sensors for tracking all of your health and activity data. Can be worn by itself, without any other devices with a screen for short interactions and mic/speaker for calls and voice messages.
2. AirPods adds audio for music, podcasts and calls. Future versions may have cameras to identify objects and scenes for AI interactions.
3. Apple Vision. They've just got started on this one with Vision Pro but it's clear that their direction is towards standard looking eyeglasses with visionOS either in the lenses or via retinal projectors. Interaction through gestures and voice. Will augment reality and provide the visual to the Apple Watch's basic UI when a larger screen is needed.
Where does a ring fit in this? Aside from being slightly less uncomfortable than a watch and potentially cheaper, what does it do? Why would I want to wear this in addition to a Watch or why would Apple want users to buy a cheaper device to replace the wildly popular Apple Watch?
None of this makes any sense. Considering the rumour source, I think we have our answer.
I don't reject the idea that this was in development, perhaps as a backup to hand tracking gestures for Vision Pro, but once they got that right, a ring was abandoned. Apple has since gotten Apple Watch to track gestures. The pinch/tap gesture works well and seems like just the start as accessibility settings show that they can track a fist and other gestures on the Watch.
1. Apple Watch as the primary personal device. Contains the AI capable bionic processor for interacting with a future Siri LLM on device and sensors for tracking all of your health and activity data. Can be worn by itself, without any other devices with a screen for short interactions and mic/speaker for calls and voice messages.
2. AirPods adds audio for music, podcasts and calls. Future versions may have cameras to identify objects and scenes for AI interactions.
3. Apple Vision. They've just got started on this one with Vision Pro but it's clear that their direction is towards standard looking eyeglasses with visionOS either in the lenses or via retinal projectors. Interaction through gestures and voice. Will augment reality and provide the visual to the Apple Watch's basic UI when a larger screen is needed.
Where does a ring fit in this? Aside from being slightly less uncomfortable than a watch and potentially cheaper, what does it do? Why would I want to wear this in addition to a Watch or why would Apple want users to buy a cheaper device to replace the wildly popular Apple Watch?
None of this makes any sense. Considering the rumour source, I think we have our answer.
I don't reject the idea that this was in development, perhaps as a backup to hand tracking gestures for Vision Pro, but once they got that right, a ring was abandoned. Apple has since gotten Apple Watch to track gestures. The pinch/tap gesture works well and seems like just the start as accessibility settings show that they can track a fist and other gestures on the Watch.
It's an industry trend now that smart watches are a commodity nobody mentions anymore, I don't see the point given it's essentially the same as a smart watch without the display.
They gotta find something to sell one way or another, I suppose.
What if was used to work as a device for super accurate hand tracking on the Vision Pro? Or to make a Mac a "touchless" touchscreen?
A cool feature would be able to put into the ring a few songs maybe like 10 and a podcast then with only the ring and AirPods you could listen to music while out on a jog.
Basically before a jog you select the 10 songs or a playlist and a podcast and that’s that. Perhaps able to go next and prior by turning the ring as interface.
Basically before a jog you select the 10 songs or a playlist and a podcast and that’s that. Perhaps able to go next and prior by turning the ring as interface.
Theoretically, that is true, but I've not see it recently. That is if by "work" you mean produce a quality software result.
Based on actual history it seems that Apple has 1 "A" team for software, maybe 1 "B" team, then a bunch of "E" or worse teams.
I'd love a smart ring focused on health. Assuming it's 100% passive and doesn't push notifications, I would prefer that over a watch.
Hear me out. I know this is hard to get your head around, but what if Apple had enough people to work on both at the same time?
Far-fetched, I know, to imagine this little mom-and-pop outfit actually having separate teams working on different products simultaneously.
I'm on my third Oura ring, and I like it because the health related functions of a watch without the annoying bulk of a watch (i haven't worn one in several decades). The reason that I'd consider Apple for a ring is its commitment to quality. The first Oura ring was quickly superseded in features by the second and the second barely lasted a year before the plastic liner ripped. I am hopeful the third lasts longer, but bought extended care because there's no reason to trust the quality.
Yeah, I am in the same boat. Had the 2, got the 3 for a discount and they waived the subscription fee. I am happy with my Gen3, don't think I would switch to an Apple Ring because it would probably have the same features.
I've been reading the forum for years and I had to made an account just to respond to this post.
I really don't understand so many skeptical people. I understand that more than one person may not like the idea of a ring and prefer the watch, but clearly there is a market for the ring (oura, ultrahuman, samsung galaxy...). There are people who simply don't like smartwatches, or prefer traditional watches. I, for example, like the ability to track my health, but I prefer a traditional watch.
I also don't understand why they say that this product would cannibalize sales of the watch. First, because if it does, it means that the product is sold, therefore there is a market. Second, because I don't see that they use that same reasoning for iPads, airpods, macs. Does the Mac mini cannibalize imac sales? Do normal airpods cannibalize sales of airpods pro? Did the iPod nano cannibalize the sales of the iPod touch?
And finally, I read somewhere that why have a ring when you can get better data on your wrist. This is false, better measurements are obtained by taking them from the finger. When you go to the doctor they take your oxygen and heart rate from a finger, not from your wrist. Not to mention the comfort of sleeping with a ring vs. a watch.
If you're interested in tracking your health, a ring makes a lot more sense than a watch. If you want a cell phone extension, the watch makes more sense.
I really don't understand so many skeptical people. I understand that more than one person may not like the idea of a ring and prefer the watch, but clearly there is a market for the ring (oura, ultrahuman, samsung galaxy...). There are people who simply don't like smartwatches, or prefer traditional watches. I, for example, like the ability to track my health, but I prefer a traditional watch.
I also don't understand why they say that this product would cannibalize sales of the watch. First, because if it does, it means that the product is sold, therefore there is a market. Second, because I don't see that they use that same reasoning for iPads, airpods, macs. Does the Mac mini cannibalize imac sales? Do normal airpods cannibalize sales of airpods pro? Did the iPod nano cannibalize the sales of the iPod touch?
And finally, I read somewhere that why have a ring when you can get better data on your wrist. This is false, better measurements are obtained by taking them from the finger. When you go to the doctor they take your oxygen and heart rate from a finger, not from your wrist. Not to mention the comfort of sleeping with a ring vs. a watch.
If you're interested in tracking your health, a ring makes a lot more sense than a watch. If you want a cell phone extension, the watch makes more sense.
While I'm not interested in wearing a tech ring, I am curious to see how the hardware team will tackle the interesting design challenge that is visually differentiating their little round hoop from billions of other little round hoops out there. How they'll ensure that when you're walking down the street, you can immediately identify that person's ring as an Apple Ring - much in the same way people did/do AirPods. As one who wears a Ti ring daily, I don't think they will go the precious metals route - unless, in typical Apple fashion, they formulate some new polymer. Or maybe they'll take some Watch band learnings and it will be a hard plastic shell wrapped in a soft-touch-like substance (please don't be FineWoven). If I were placing a bet though, I'd go with a glossy white plastic ring. That could be pretty iconic.