Is there room for a smart ring in Apple’s lineup of wearable products?

Rumors about Apple working on a smart ring are not new. In fact, it’s been almost a decade since the company patented the concept of an “iRing” with sensors, but that product has never seen the light of day. More recently, rumors again raised the possibility of Apple finally announcing its own smart ring – but is there room for it in Apple’s lineup of wearable products?

Rumors about an Apple smart ring

The first known patent for a smart ring was filed by Apple in October 2015. There weren’t many details about the idea apart from some sketches showing a ring with a touchpad on its surface, as well as a built-in microphone and some other sensors. The company later patented more ideas for a smart ring, this time with more complex hardware.

Based on all these patents, Apple has been exploring the idea of a ring that can be controlled by gestures and voice commands. The ring would also have motion, biometric and health sensors. This would allow it to control other devices using finger movements and even collect health data just as an Apple Watch does.

But at the end of the day, the “iRing” was always more of a conceptual idea than an actual project. But things have changed recently as we’ve been hearing more rumors about an Apple smart ring. Last week, a report claimed that Apple has been “speeding up” the development of its smart ring and that the “pre-development for commercialization is imminent.”

To add fuel to the fire, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said on Sunday that the company is still exploring the idea of a ring with health sensors, but emphasized that the project is at “early discussions” stage and is unlikely to become a reality any time soon.

Where would a ring fit into Apple’s lineup?

The timing of these rumors coincides with Samsung announcing a Galaxy Ring earlier this month. On Wednesday, the South Korean company shared more details about the accessory, which looks like a regular ring but is capable of tracking health data such as the user’s heart rate.

Personally, I’d love to have a smart ring for a very specific use: monitoring my sleep. Yes, Apple Watch already has sleep tracking features, but I’m not a fan of sleeping with a watch on my wrist. Having a device as small and light as a ring to wear at night would be perfect. And I’m sure there are more people who would rather wear a ring than an Apple Watch.

But while the idea sounds cool, it’s hard to imagine an Apple Ring in Apple’s lineup. An accessory like this would probably cost less than an Apple Watch, which could end up convincing some users not to spend more money on the watch since they would be satisfied with the health features offered by the ring.

I’m not saying that everyone would stop buying the Apple Watch because of the ring, but Apple could lose potential Apple Watch buyers who don’t necessarily want a watch, but rather its health – unless the ring’s health sensors are rather limited and basic compared to those in the Apple Watch. And if the ring costs as much as an Apple Watch, it may not be appealing enough.

Of course, Apple could also add some extra features (such as some kind of integration with Vision Pro for better gesture tracking) to justify the co-existence of such an accessory with the Apple Watch.

What about you? Would you buy an Apple Ring? What would convince you? Let us know in the comments section below.

Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed.