According to the latest reports, Apple is going hard on the next generation of AI wearable technology. Until now, even the best Apple Watches have been largely limited to health and fitness and a few communication features as an extension of your phone, while its AirPods Pro 3 have been enhanced with heart rate detection and live translation.
Now, Apple is taking its wearable AI smarts a step further, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, with a trio of wearable AI cameras to provide ‘contextual information’ to its revamped Siri AI chatbot. The devices will act like the Meta Ray-Bans AI glasses, letting Meta ask a question based on the world around you and interpret your request as best they can.
Gurman reports that Apple is making its own AI glasses to take on Meta, developing its frames in-house (rather than partnering with an established eyewear maker like Ray-Ban) with “an advanced camera system with a high-resolution camera capable of capturing photos and videos, as well as a second camera that provides visual information to Siri” and environmental contexts for Mac Siri.
The other two devices are expected to be an AI wearable pin — along the lines of the disastrous Humane AI Pin and other devices that have flopped in previous years — and AirPods equipped with cameras.
Both devices are expected to have lower-resolution cameras designed for information rather than taking high-quality photos, with included microphones for talking to Siri. Gurman adds that a speaker for the AI Pin is being considered but not confirmed. The devices would reportedly act as the ‘eyes and ears’ of an iPhone, linking to Siri on your phone rather than using on-device AI.
Will Apple do better than Humane?
Apple has struggled to make ground with splashy launches in areas of innovation in recent years, most notably with the Apple Vision Pro. It’s not because the device wasn’t good; rather, the world wasn’t ready for it (and it’s expensive). But if these rumors are true and we see the first hints of these devices in 2027, I have a feeling that Apple’s smart glasses or AI wearables will do significantly better.
Apple has historically done well in areas others have broken ground in. It has not often been a true trailblazer – it lets others take the initial risks, then aims to produce an improved model. Look at how long it’s taken Apple to launch a foldable phone, for example: something we know it’s currently working on. With its smart glasses, Apple will try to correct the mistakes made by the Meta by smoothing out the pain points in the form factor and launch when potential customers get used to the new concept of smart glasses.
Likewise with an AI pin or pendant. The Humane AI Pin was its own device, and it flopped with a strange LED display system on a device designed to completely replace the user’s phone. Apple doesn’t need to replace the iPhone; apparently it wants to add to it and keep it as a hub in your pocket while reducing the need to take it out all the time. AirPods with AI cameras would be a similar concept.
It’s about making the technology easier to use and reducing the friction between the user and their gadgets. That’s one thing Apple has always excelled at, and I see no reason why these rumors wouldn’t be successful.
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