Apple has been weighing several wearable concepts over the last few years, including a smart ring, augmented reality glasses, and redesigned AirPods featuring a built‑in camera. This topic surfaced in a recent newsletter, Power On, based on reporting by Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman. The chatter isn’t about a cleared roadmap so much as a steady stream of exploratory discussions within Apple about what could come next in wearables and how those devices might coexist with existing products.
Earlier discussions within Apple’s industrial design team reportedly centered on a health‑oriented smart ring. The idea was to deliver fitness and wellness tracking in a form factor that could potentially complement or offer an alternative to the Apple Watch. Gurman noted that Apple is not actively pursuing a finger wearable right now, but the concept illustrates how the company tests affordable, more accessible options that could broaden health analytics and user engagement beyond traditional smartwatches. In this sense, the ring would aim to fill gaps where a smaller device could provide quick health cues without the need for a larger wearable, appealing to users seeking simpler, more discreet monitoring.
Another avenue under consideration involves a lighter version of smart glasses that would sit below the ambitious scope of the Apple Vision Pro. The goal, as described by Gurman, is to offer glasses capable of competing with products like Meta’s Ray‑Ban Smart Glasses and Amazon’s Echo Frames, while potentially enabling a shift toward devices that could function asAirPods with built‑in speakers, cameras, health sensors, and intelligent features. The project, however, is described as being in a “technological research” phase within Apple’s hardware division, which signals that a public release or even a formal announcement may still be some time away. This approach would emphasize broader practical use cases and more affordable access to mixed‑reality‑adjacent experiences, rather than a full Vision Pro replacement.
A separate line of inquiry explored by Apple engineers involves embedding low‑resolution cameras into AirPods, explored as early as the prior year. The expectation is that future iterations could become compact, autonomous digital assistants powered by on‑device AI and cloud services, offering convenience for everyday tasks with minimal friction. While such a direction raises questions about privacy, battery life, and user experience, it also underscores Apple’s ongoing interest in redefining what a pair of earbuds can do beyond audio playback alone. In parallel, observers have noted the company’s long‑standing focus on design, privacy, and seamless integration across devices as it weighs how to extend its ecosystem with new wearable capabilities.
Historically, Apple has led with innovation in personal audio and wearable devices, and the current discussions underscore a cautious but persistent exploration of how to extend the brand’s influence into new form factors. The company’s approach appears incremental and measured, favoring research pathways that could eventually yield practical products or at least influential features that shape the broader wearables market. As much as any single device speculation, the ongoing chatter reflects Apple’s willingness to test fresh ideas while preserving the strong design ethics and user experience benchmarks that have defined its products for years. Observers expect continued updates as teams refine concepts, assess user demand, and review how new hardware might integrate with software ecosystems and services.