Oura CEO Says Apple Won't Make a Smart Ring Because 'It's Hard to Do'

[tom2517]

I doubt it’s hard to do HW wise for Apple, Oura CEO clearly meant the “category” is hard to do well.

 

[hagjohn]

Maybe they want Apple to buy them out or something. Seems dumb to say Apple can't do hard things.

 

[lkrupp]

"Oura CEO Says Apple Won't Make a Smart Ring Because 'It's Hard to Do"

Oh sweet lord, such hubris. Trying to be the next SJ is he.

 

[cocky jeremy]

"Oh yeah? Lets put another one out of business."-Apple

 

[AndiG]

A Ring would be a really cool gadget. It is the top of simplicity - Jobs would have liked it.

And an iRing would be a perfect match for Apples product line, you know?

„One Ring to rule them all,
One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all
and in the darkness bind them

(Tolkien)


Nevertheless, I guess I would by one - even for $1K.

 

[turbineseaplane]

The real reason Apple doesn't make one...

A ring doesn't have the physical space for grossly overpriced RAM & SSD upgrades

 

[Howard2k]

perhaps, but also, why? why does everything now have to be a "smart" device or even a "device"?

It doesn’t. You can still buy a “dumb” ring.

 

[Cirillo Gherardo]

Interesting take. I think they won't make one because its a totally unnecessary product, and they already have a solid wearable that can read biometrics.

 

[AndiG]

Interesting take. I think they won't make one because its a totally unnecessary product, and they already have a solid wearable that can read biometrics.

A Ring that lasts for 5 days with Apple Pay, HR monitoring, sleep monitoring?
Awesome product. Authorize it using your phone, absolutely minimal product- lots of people don‘t want to wear a watch in the night or on the beach or …

Apple could make the rings in gold, silver, titanium and sell it for a ton of money. Those things would sell like hot cake.

 

[tgdbowler]

Apple: "Hold my beer"

 

[Sean.]

I’ve had my Oura Gen 4 for about 3 weeks so far and it’s been great. Battery life has been good with my size 12 ring. Wearing the ring to track sleep instead of wearing a watch at night was worth the purchase alone.

 

[Joshuaorange]

I am pretty confident Apple had no interest in this, but now I feel like shots have been fired.

Not when you’re less than 1,000th the size of the company you’re goating. Apple has discontinued more profitable products than that ring.

 

[dasmb]

I lolled. The only reason to troll Apple like this is if you're daring them to enter your market.

I think adding more sensors to our lives is a good thing -- probably the best thing about the Apple Watch is its array of sensors. But why a _ring_? Why does a health sensor need to be something visible? An ankle bracelet, a patch, a pendant on a string -- all could be just as good, right?

Isn't the only reason to wear a smart ring to broadcast to others "hey, I have a smart ring?"

 

[hybrid_x]

Sounds like Oura has their head in the sand about potential competition. I wonder how they missed Samsung bringing the Galaxy Ring to market. If Samsung can do a "hard" thing, surely Apple can as well.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

I don't really care if Apple makes one or not. Rings are insanely uncomfortable, I'd never wear one.

 

[LorenK]

I've been wearing an Oura ring since Covid hen my company gave them away to help determine whether they could alert you to possible covid infection. That was an Oura 2 and I purchased an Oura 3 because of its sleep and activity tracking functions. I have a lot of other Apple devices, but I don't wear a watch and the ring is much more convenient and I don't worry about showering or swimming with it. The ring has the right amount of functionality for my needs and renders a watch unnecessary for me.

 

[akatsuki]

Oh FFS - Apple is super rich. They could totally do it. But the value add and appeal isn't really there over the watch.

 

[TracesOfArsenic]

touchscreen mac != iPad. I use touchscreen PCs at work. They're great for some things. I also have an IPP, Mac Mini, MBP, and iPhone. A touchscreen mac would be handy.

No, they're not the same thing but I don't think I'd be the only person that would ditch my iPad in a heartbeat for a MBP that has the same form factor as a Surface Laptop Studio. The optional touch screen when it's in 'laptop' mode is handy, but being able to fold it down flat and use it purely as a tablet is great.

 

[constantsnags!]

Or maybe;

View attachment 2451139

Anyone in Apple's industrial design group who offered this concept up would be fired...and rightly so.

 

[constantsnags!]

Apple would probably put a little screen on it for notifications and kill the battery life

They would not ever, ever do that.

 

[constantsnags!]

A Ring that lasts for 5 days with Apple Pay, HR monitoring, sleep monitoring?
Awesome product. Authorize it using your phone, absolutely minimal product- lots of people don‘t want to wear a watch in the night or on the beach or …

Apple coild make the rings in gold, silver, titanium and sell it for a ton of money. Those things would sell like hot cake.

Yup. All it needs to kill Oura (and I just bought an Oura 4) is ApplePay and potentially blood glucose monitoring, if it could fit. It would be game over in a month.