Apple Outlines New Blueprint for Wearable Devices

2024-02-26

According to Mark Gurman in today's Power On newsletter from Bloomberg, Apple's future wearable device roadmap may include AI smart glasses and AirPods with cameras. Both concepts are still in the exploratory stage within Apple and are more of future plans rather than concrete products. He mentioned that these smart glasses will be designed similar to AirPods but will come with more sensors, AI capabilities, and longer battery life. Although they will be cheaper than Vision Pro, they won't be Apple's attempt at a high-quality transparent display AR face computer. Instead, they will be more similar to Meta Ray-Bans, equipped with a camera and an AI assistant that you can interact with, but without a display. Apple reportedly started researching AirPods with cameras, codenamed B798, last year as well. If the company can achieve this goal, the size of these AirPods will be roughly the same as the modern AirPods, but with a built-in low-resolution camera that can work in conjunction with AI to assist users with daily tasks. Apple is looking for ways to strengthen its wearable device division as its existing products have already matured. Installing cameras on AirPods is a rather quirky idea that vaguely points to Apple's plans for generative AI. If people accept face computers, why not accept ear cameras? Gurman mentioned that the long-rumored Apple smart ring still has supporters, but Apple hasn't actively developed any products in the interesting but unconfirmed wearable device category. However, Apple has invested more effort in AR glasses. As Meta has proven the feasibility of screenless smart glasses, it makes sense for Apple to develop along this path. Note: The HTML tags, including the `

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