Apple may have cancelled the much rumored Apple Ring, or the Cupertino-company could still be developing the potential wearable. Who knows.
Currently, we’re leaning toward, Apple is designing a smart ring.
The latest rumor comes to us from the Korean blogging platform Naver, where yeux1122 revealed that Samsung might accelerate the release timeline of the Samsung Galaxy Ring 2. At the end of their post, they briefly mentioned that Apple is working on its version of a smart ring and smart glasses
“Apple is also still developing a ring-type wearable, and recently, attempts to develop band-type and smart glass-type wearable devices have been detected.”
There isn’t much information beyond that though.
The rumors surrounding the Apple Ring have been incredibly vague and mostly based on speculation. Allegedly, Apple sent out surveys to employees in September that teased the smart ring. Reportedly, another survey with a similar question was revealed in October as well.
Both the smart ring and potential smart glasses have been tipped to launch in 2026, or maybe 2027.
Apple is behind Samsung now in the wearables field concerning rings, but the company also just received a patent to embed sensors in watchbands or headbands which signals a potential expansion of the company’s wearables lines.
On the other hand, the Apple Whisperer himself, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, claimed in his Power On newsletter from October that Apple actually has no plans to launch a ring.
“Apple isn’t actively developing a ring and has no plans to launch one,” he wrote. “[because it] would detract from the Apple Watch.”
He added that Apple “has no reason to cannibalize a product that still has room to grow and is the envy of the fitness-tracking industry.”
Gurman is, usually, pretty spot on with his predictions and rumors. So we do have to really consider his information.
As we’ve seen with the Samsung Galaxy Ring, an Apple Ring could easily integrate into the Apple health tracking ecosystem. And a ring may be a preferable form factor compared to the watches which can feel bulky at times.
Apple has plenty of patents surrounding gesture control and biometric tracking, though that’s not indicative of whether or not a ring will come out.
Alongside the sensor patent the company received this week, it also received a number of patents related to cars, which may be left over form the cancelled Apple Car project. which has been dead since at least February.
