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Years of rumours, patent after patent… including a 2013 application by Apple for the iRing/TV remote, and a 2015 patent application for an itsy-bitsy ‘smart-watch’ for the finger, sketched out with a miniature touch-screen.
An Apple ring has constantly been in the rumour mill for well over a decade. Even here at Mark Ellis Reviews.
Of course this doesn’t mean much in terms of anything coming to fruition. Apple Car, anyone? This patenting malarky is more of a ‘scatter-gun’ method for making sure Apple has all the best ideas to hand, and to its advantage.
Having said that, thanks to the Oura ring, and Samsung’s Galaxy Ring, having tested the waters since 2015 & 2024 respectively, the market for smart-rings looks locked into our future, all the celebs and athletes sporting Oura rings, notwithstanding.
With Apple’s revenue for wearables currently at 10%, up from 5% a decade ago, it looks more than certain Apple’s ecosystem is sure to expand in this area.
It’s inevitable, you’d be forgiven for thinking. Apple is clearly working up to releasing the much talked about wearable. When – is still complete guess work, what – is a little easier to predict, judging by the rumours circulating.
Let’s have a look at the evidence thus far, as to what it’ll do, and have a calculated guess as to when it will be released, and hedge our bets as to its possible price.
What Can we expect?
Apple has clearly been working on an smart-ring for well over a decade, even if only in sketch form, and the rising success of Apple wearables – Airpods, Apple Watch etc, indicates expansion – particularly since Oura has led the way thus far, and rival Samsung has set out its stall earlier this year.
Apple doesn’t seem itching to release anything immediately, perhaps it’s content enough in biding its time to make sure it has the biggest impact possible. Perhaps it hasn’t quite worked out what it’ll do exactly.
On 25 February 2024 Apple’s own Mark Gurman wrote briefly on Apple’s continued exploration of wearables. Citing a “fitness ring”, among other notables such as smart-glasses, and Airpods with cameras.
Gurman writes that the idea was presented to Apple’s health team of the potential of removing the health and fitness tracking aspects from the Apple Watch, and replacing them on your finger. A slimmed-down idea compared to the mini touch-screen pie-in-the-sky.
This also makes sense when you take the minimalist design and features, provided by both rivals.
For those who worry about the extent of their screen time these devices provide a little distance.
The Apple Watch, or indeed any smart-watch, can be a little chunky, and not the best for all occasions. So the ring is a more subtle companion. Being that much smaller than the smart-watch it could be said to provide better sleep analysis, also, by virtue of being more comfortable to wear when sleeping.
There are those, Gurman mentions, to that effect, who’d much prefer a less pricey, smaller wearable in order to track blood oxygen, calories, steps etc, without all the other apps and notifications available on the Apple Watch.
This makes sense in terms of it having a unique function, and not just another, albeit smaller, version of the watch. It would fit in and have its place in the whole Apple ecosystem. When thinking about the other up-and-coming Apple product ideas being developed – glasses, headsets, camera-enabled Airpods, it’s easy to see the ring fitting in.
Although this is still “just an idea”, at least back in February, an Apple ring would certainly open up revenue from new customers and, as Gurman also suggests, potentially be “offered as a subscription.”
One would hope not, RE the subscription idea. You can almost envision a harrowing subscription dominated future where we all work in order to pay ‘rent’ to tech giants. Wait, is that happening already?
That aside, the likelihood of an Apple ring that covers all the health & fitness wants of your average Jo, i.e. you and me, seems inevitable. The idea that it’ll be minimalist in function and form, if it’s to match its stylish and competent rivals doesn’t mean it’ll be less smart, however. Apple’s knack for haptics and taptics preempts the potential ring in being ‘heavy’ on the gestures, and smart in the assistive data sense.
When will Apple release the iRing?
We don’t know! No-one does, probably even Apple.
It’s possible Apple is taking its time just to make sure it has that “one ring to rule them all” vibe, or perhaps not. That’s the trouble with speculation, it can conjure up all sorts of ‘what-ifs’.
Apple is yet to launch the Apple Watch X, rumoured for later in 2024, possibly 2025. So unless it’s a double launch the likelihood is that it’ll be a short while after that (shrug emoji).
The ‘evidence’ we have is that there will be some kind of ring-shaped accessory, that it’ll cover health and fitness, and perhaps even act as a control/ umpire for other devices like your iPhone, watch… Apple Vision Pro. It’ll also be more affordable than the Apple Watch. One would think.
How much will it cost?
With an Apple Watch SE priced at £219 / $249, the cheapest available, it’ll no doubt be below the 200 mark. But, again, who knows? Apple doesn’t hold back on price when launching the latest, so best look to the other competitors for a better idea – starting at £299 / $299 for an Oura Heritage, and £399 / $399 for Samsung’s offering.
The jury remains out, though, check back here for the latest on that sometime soon.
