Apple may not be as passionate or focused on developing a smart ring as its competitors, which can be a missed opportunity, as Samsung is reportedly working on such a device that is said to be announced later this year and is said to arrive in eight different sizes. It appears that the Apple Watch remains the company’s primary product from a health and technology standpoint.
The unnamed smart ring, which might be dubbed iRing, is being promoted as a concept within the Apple campus
There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the Apple Watch is a versatile and convenient piece of wrist-mounted wearable technology, offering not just health-focused features but fitness-centric ones too. However, not all consumers will wish to invest in this hardware, likely because they want less weight on their wrist, which is something that can be compensated with the smart ring. With the device synced to an iPhone, a wearer can monitor vital information on the display without the added bulk on their wrist.
Unfortunately, as mentioned in Mark Gurman’s ‘Power On’ newsletter, Apple’s smart ring idea is just an idea for the time being, meaning that the California-based giant is not actively developing this form of wearable technology. However, the Bloomberg reporter does mention that this concept is being promoted around the Apple campus, suggesting that the firm may have a splinter team working on it from behind the scenes, though this information is yet to be confirmed.
“For now, the ring idea is just that — an idea. The company isn’t actively developing such a device, but there are certainly people within the walls of Apple’s campus promoting the concept. The glasses, meanwhile, are in an exploratory phase known as “technology investigation” within Apple’s hardware engineering division. The company also is looking into other ideas, such as equipping AirPods with cameras.
Let’s begin with the hypothetical ring, which would be focused on heath and fitness. There are many people who buy the Apple Watch for health tracking. They want to monitor their heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, calories burned and steps taken. And there’s an overlap between that group and people who don’t necessarily want the other bells and whistles of an Apple Watch — like apps and phone calls.”
However, unlike the smart glasses, whose technology is yet to mature and require chips that consume one-tenth the power of a current-generation iPhone SoC, a smart ring is very much within Apple’s grasp to make it a reality. In fact, it stands to benefit greatly by adding more consumers to the list of billions. Additionally, it can lock in those users through its tightly-knitted software ecosystem with the release of its unnamed smart ring, but we have known for quite a while now that just because its competitors have a different ambition, it does not necessarily have to traverse the same path.
