Apple has been working on an Apple Ring for 20 years, taking its time to make sure it’s not just cool tech, but a truly useful ring that will be a big success.
When Steve Jobs introduced the iPad, he explained how it fit between smartphones and laptops as a new type of device. He said this new device had to be better than both a laptop and a smartphone to be worthwhile.
Now, Apple is doing the same with the Apple Ring. Some people will buy it just because it’s from Apple, but that’s because Apple has a history of making great wearable devices.
In short, a new Apple device benefits from the success of previous ones, but that alone isn’t enough.
Fitting into the Ecosystem
Apple needs to find reasons and features that make a smart ring worth buying. However, there’s more to it than just that.
The iPad had to be better at certain tasks than a laptop or smartphone but not so much better that it replaced a MacBook or iPhone. Back in 2010, the iPad had to balance with other Apple devices.
Today, a smart ring needs to fit between the Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro. It must strengthen Apple’s ecosystem without hurting any part of it.
Apple’s smart ring will fit with its other devices. It will have features like Find My and will work with the iPhone and MacBook Pro.
Apple will probably have a well-thought-out plan for this. For example, there’s a reason you can’t pair an Apple Watch with an iPad, and it’s not a technical issue.
Apple Usually Gets the Right Features
We won’t know what an Apple Ring can do until Apple announces it, but we know what it needs to achieve.
Apple can keep a product going until it gets it right, like with the Apple Watch. Apple Vision Pro is also in this process now.
But with both Apple Vision Pro and Apple Watch, just having something new isn’t enough. For it to be Apple, a new idea must seem obvious and needed in retrospect.
Apple often arrives late to the game, but when it does, it introduces new aspects that make rivals copy it. Apple is very good at finding the right and best way to do something.
This was less clear with the Apple Watch, which took time to become the health device it is today. But with Apple Vision Pro, Apple realized that users needed to see the outside world while wearing it.
Detail from an Apple patent showing possible designs for an Apple Ring
Before Apple Vision Pro, most headsets were fully immersive virtual reality devices. Now, you can expect all high-end headsets to include pass-through video that lets you see the outside world.
It’s hard to explain the impact of this change until someone has tried an Apple Vision Pro, especially after using a regular VR headset. But it’s a significant and clear improvement, much like when Apple moved the keyboard to the back on laptops.
Apple needs to find a unique selling point for the Apple Ring and communicate it effectively.
Conveying New Features
One way Apple effectively introduces new features is by connecting them to something familiar. It’s very likely that a key feature of the Apple Ring will be health-related, building on what we know from the Apple Watch.
For example, the Apple Ring could handle sleep tracking, which now requires an Apple Watch that you need to remember to charge. It could also improve biological measurements like heart rate by using two contact points: the ring and the Apple Watch.
These aren’t entirely new features, but the ring would enhance them, providing clear benefits.
User-Centric Approach
Apple’s knack for setting trends comes from focusing on what users will do with technology, not just the technology itself. A recent example is Apple Intelligence, which integrates AI into specific uses rather than making a general app like ChatGPT.
A clue to how Apple might approach the Apple Ring is a patent from late 2023. The patent mentions, “Because a ring device may be worn throughout the day, it will generally be immediately available to the user.” This means the ring could quickly and unobtrusively connect the wearer to their environment.
Just for You
An Apple Ring could discreetly notify you of important messages through a haptic tap. This way, you’d know a message is important without having to check your phone, avoiding any awkward situations.
Messages, calls, and reminders could be presented through a tap, meant only for you. While you can’t read messages on a ring as quickly as on a watch or phone, the haptic notification would be far less intrusive.
Unobtrusive for You Too
The Apple Ring will be with you all the time, potentially more than an Apple Watch or iPhone. It could unlock your Mac when you sit down, or your front door and car could recognize you and adjust settings just for you.
If your phone rings while you’re listening to music, a specific gesture with your ring-wearing hand could mute the audio.
You can mute music, or a video call, and the ring briefly flashes this “M”
Right now, you can buy a Wave for Work ring that lets you change Keynote slides by pressing a button. An Apple Ring might let you simply gesture toward your screen to move your presentation along.
After twenty years of development, Apple will likely come up with a new use for the ring that no one has thought of, but everyone will quickly understand.
A Lot of Technology in a Small Space
For an Apple Ring to do all it can, it will need to pack a lot of technology into a small space:
- Haptic engine
- Accelerometer for gesture and movement detection
- UWB chip for location and Find My
- Biometric sensor
- Modem or connector to iPhone or Apple Watch
- Battery
The battery will have to be tiny, so Apple will need to minimize power consumption.
Size Challenges
The Apple Watch already had to accommodate different sizes, but a ring will be even more challenging. Normally, if a ring is too tight, a jeweler can widen it by cutting and adding new metal. This wouldn’t work with a smart ring, as it would stop functioning. That’s why the Wave for Work isn’t really a ring but a tiny device with fabric straps.
Apple could use a similar design, but it might look like a tiny Apple Watch on your finger, which doesn’t seem very Apple-like or comfortable to wear all the time.
Worn All the Time
Whatever the Apple Ring offers, it will be designed to be worn all the time. It will build on the successful health features of the Apple Watch and use its ability to detect your location and provide relevant alerts unobtrusively.
There’s still the question of what exactly it will do and when Apple will launch it. It probably won’t be in 2024, and 2025 looks uncertain too.
Lastly, there’s the question of what Apple will name it. Given Apple’s tendency to choose unique names like “Apple Pencil,” don’t be surprised if it’s called something like the “Apple Band of Gold.”