Apple may not be making a Smart Ring right now after all
Despite years of rumors and an extensive body of patents regarding a smart Apple Ring, a new report claims the company has no plans to actually release one.
A render of a ring with the Apple logo.
Apple has been researching smart rings for two decades -- or at least there have been rumors for that long -- but now we'll have to hold our breath for a lot longer. According to Bloomberg, the issue is less technical, and more pragmatic marketing.
"Apple isn't actively developing a ring and has no plans to launch one," wrote Mark Gurman, "[because it] would detract from the Apple Watch."
"[Consequently, Apple] has no reason to cannibalize a product that still has room to grow," he continued, "and is the envy of the fitness-tracking industry."
More than most firms, however, Apple does have a reputation for doing exactly that cannibalization. The most famous example is how it entirely destroyed its own iPod with the iPhone.
Amongst the many rumors regarding the Apple Ring, there have also been ones where it could work alongside the Apple Watch. For instance, it's possible that wearing both the Apple Ring and the Apple Watch together might improve the accuracy of heart rate measurement, as the Oura ring currently does.
Then according to multiple patents over the last many years, there has also been research into gesture control, perhaps related to the use of the Apple Vision Pro. So it's repeatedly been expected that the Apple Ring would fit into the existing Apple ecosystem as a complementary accessory rather than a replacement.
If the report is correct, however, this makes 2024's second cancellation of a device that has become high-profile without Apple actually announcing it. In February 2024, it was reported that the decade-long Apple Car project had been entirely cancelled.
In that case, there is no competing Apple device that it would cannibalize. But otherwise there are striking similarities, with Apple's research efforts into a car continuing to be documented in newly granted patents.
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Comments
you choose.
IMO, it would be a silly purchase with little value if you already wear a newer smartwatch. Now, if money is no object, go for it, have both. Most people would choose one or the other.
That's, um, an interesting perspective.
It seems like an entirely different thing to replace iPod with iPhone, which does everything iPod did, plus a lot more, subsequently costs more and makes the company more, as opposed to introduce a ring that does less, should presumably cost less and be less profitable, but might nonetheless cut into sales of the Apple Watch.
A more similar analog would be the introduction of the watch itself and its potential to cut into sales of iPhone. In that instance, even with a watch that can independently function as a phone ultimately doesn't undercut the iPhone itself. It's a convenience to be able to go running with the watch by itself and still stay on the grid, but that utility doesn't work out to be enough to warrant skipping the iPhone altogether. It's easier to imagine some percentage of folks opting for a ring in place of a watch, because at least for some, a ring health sensor in conjunction with an iPhone might not sacrifice a whole lot of perceived functionality of having watch and a phone.
Flip it around and you could say the same -- Apple has the best-in-class VR headset ever created, therefore they are an innovator and the other cell phone makers aren't.
The real question is whether they feel whatever concepts they have deliver actual value.
But as for your "value" comment, I would 100% agree.
I don't believe a ring would add much value over the existing Apple Watch. Yet it definitely introduces buyer confusion, potential customers waffling on what to get, and comparisons on price and features with smart-ring products they have no market reason to compete with. I believe it risks a reduction in Apple Watch sales for a ring instead, and not necessarily an Apple-branded one. Is that cannibalizing watch sales? To me, it would be.