Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Has No Plans For a Smart Ring
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
it’s less about monopoly and more about this being a mature product. I can’t quite understand why people still expect revolutions when the iPhone debuted close to 20 years ago
I've kind of gotten used to it, but I still wake up every once in a while with the thing jammed up on my wrist in some uncomfortable way. And this is with an SE, can't imagine at all wearing an Ultra in bed.
Oh, how so? Because it's thinner?
(Wait, I think you mean more comfortable than the Ultra, not the SE)
Yes, but admittedly, being thinner than the Ultra isn't difficult
First of all, the RAM situation was the same with Steve Jobs. And iPhones don’t become “useless” without Apple Intelligence, come on… personally, I don’t even care.
But tackling the main point: the ecosystem might sell some products, but every time we get statistics we see that most of Apple’s users only have one device. The volume of customers of the “Tim Apple” is much bigger than it was before. And it’s almost always that Apple products have the highest levels of customer satisfaction.
You might have opposite opinions, like macOS on the iPad (which I think would be a complete failure, so please don’t say things like “we all know”). That’s completely acceptable, but you have to recognise that Apple decisions on tech have brought much higher levels of customer satisfaction than their competitors. What’s definitely not acceptable is to wish that Apple is broken up because some people don’t like it (specially when it’s against a huge volume of customers).
A fitness/activity tracking ring doesn't interest me in the least, but Apple might be missing out on a good opportunity. Oura charges $70/year for a subscription, which is required to get anything but the most basic information out of their ring. If Apple were to release a ring with no subscription costs, it may siphon a substantial part of their business off.
But I'm sure Apple has marketing research people who are a lot smarter and astute than me and already know this, so obviously there are other reasons they don't want to get into that market.
But I'm sure Apple has marketing research people who are a lot smarter and astute than me and already know this, so obviously there are other reasons they don't want to get into that market.
Seems like I'm in the minority, but I would be interested in an Apple smart ring. I have an Apple Watch and would love to track my sleep, but there's no way I'll be wearing a whole damn watch on my wrist while I sleep (I've tried). A ring is the perfect solution. Obviously there are other smart ring options, I'd simply prefer one in the Apple ecosystem.
My brother swears he cannot sleep with a watch, so he picked up a smart ring for sleep tracking. Apparently the battery life is pretty good on them these days!
BOO!
Though smart rings with health capabilities have been growing in popularity, Apple has no plans to join the smart ring market, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. While Apple explored the idea, there is no active development of a ring going on at this time, and Apple has no plans to launch a ring.
Samsung's Galaxy Ring
Smart rings on the market from companies like Oura measure heart rate, track body temperature, and have sleep tracking capabilities, all of which are functions of the Apple Watch. If Apple released a smart ring, it would have the same feature set of the Apple Watch, and it would likely cannibalize Apple Watch sales.
Back in February, Gurman said that Apple's industrial team had suggested that Apple work on a smart ring, with the device possibly serving as a lower-cost alternative to the Apple Watch. Apple executives apparently weren't interested, and active development didn't happen.
Gurman's report followed a February rumor from Korean site Electronic Times, which said that Apple was "speeding up development" of a smart ring that could be used for health tracking. The site claimed that Apple was weighing the idea of a smart ring as an expansion of its wearables lineup, but those rumors may have been spurred by Samsung's Galaxy Ring.
Samsung introduced the Galaxy Ring in July alongside new foldable smart phones. Designed to work only with Galaxy devices, the Galaxy Ring tracks movement, sleep, heart rate, and respiratory rate, providing users with a daily sleep score and an energy score.
New devices from Samsung can spur rumors about Apple products because the two companies typically compete in the same markets, but there are some instances where Apple has not followed in Samsung's footsteps. Samsung has had foldable smartphones for years now, and Apple still seems to have no concrete plans for a foldable iPhone.
There have been Apple patents for ring-like devices, and those patents have also led to "iRing" rumors, but Apple patents all kinds of strange things that never make it to launch.
Gurman is a reliable source for information on Apple's future plans, but there are some who still seem to think an Apple ring is coming. CCS Insight told CNBC just this week that Apple might launch a "connected ring" to rival Samsung by 2026.
Rather than launching a ring, Apple may instead lower the price of the Apple Watch. The next-generation Apple Watch SE that's slated for 2025 is expected to include a plastic casing that could bring lower costs and more appeal to customers looking for something cheap and durable, either for themselves or for their children.
Article Link: Apple Has No Plans For a Smart Ring
I still want it to tell time. Maybe put an analog watch on top or something, that'll be interesting.
I actually used to have one until recently for health reasons. But some way-off VO2 measurements were making me incredibly anxious about even wearing it. My doc gave me the all clear but still I sold the Watch and only ever wear a junky Casio when I'm at work.
I'd actually like them to make it have a 18-hour battery with 4G turned on and release the Watch app for the iPad. This would let me ditch the iPhone altogether for an iPad Mini.
They hired a lot of designers from car companies. Ive started out designing toilets.
I'd be very interested in an Apple Ring also. Still using a series 6 bought the year it was released. But I dont love wearing a watch, and the idea of the battery lasting long enough to track my sleep is laughable, so I've never done it.
My wife recently purchased the Oura because her Garmin watch died, but she would have bought a ring from Apple if it existed. I may follow suit if she has a good experience. We're an Apple household so it also seems to me Apple is leaving $ on the table. If they released a ring with no subscription, Oura would cease to exist. As it is, I'd speculate Oura is draining market share from the Apple Watch; probably not enough to care yet but eventually....
It wouldn't be the first time Apple made devices with overlapping purposes. The reason would be if not having a ring affects watch sales, because people opt for an Oura instead.
Charge it briefly before going to sleep. I get into bed, charge the watch while I read or watch tv, then put it back on and fully charge it in the morning.
Most likely the profit for Oura is in the subscription.
it probably isn’t. An Oura is a vastly more limited offering, mostly useful for tracking sleep. You shouldn’t wear it in the gym for lifting weights, it doesn’t have a screen, and doesn’t come close to the quantity of sensors. My AW tracks my runs and gives me detailed summaries of how I’m improving in multiple areas of health. I control my workout app in the gym with it and it again tracks my heartrate during and after that session. That’s before considering the other apps that are available to vastly increase the utility of the device.
A ring does almost none of that. It’s a wearable-lite.
Certainly it's a wearable-lite, which is the point; it's light, and watches are annoying for some people. You're incorrect about not reading heart rate and tracking workouts. But your point about not using while lifting weights is a good one. That's a fail.
