According to recent reports, Apple is putting a lot of effort into the next generation of wearable AI technology. Until now, even the best Apple Watches have largely been limited to health and fitness and a few communication features as an extension of your phone, while its AirPods Pro 3 have been improved with heart rate detection and live translation.
Now Apple is taking its wearable AI a step further, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, with a trio of wearable devices with AI cameras to provide “contextual information” for its revamped Siri AI chatbot. The devices will function like Meta Ray-Bans AI glasses, allowing them to ask Meta 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 fight Meta, developing its frames in-house (rather than collaborating with an established eyewear maker like Ray-Ban) with “an advanced camera system with a high-resolution camera that can capture photos and videos, as well as a second camera that provides visual feedback to Siri and environmental context,” according to MacRumors.
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 failed in previous years) and camera-equipped AirPods.
Both devices are expected to have lower-resolution cameras designed to gather information rather than take high-quality photos, with microphones included for talking to Siri. Gurman adds that a speaker for AI Pin is being considered, but is 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 gain traction with splashy launches in areas of innovation in recent years, particularly with the Apple Vision Pro. It’s not that the device wasn’t good; rather, the world was not ready for it (and it is expensive). However, if these rumors are true and we see the first signs of these devices in 2027, I have a feeling that Apple’s smart glasses or AI wearables will perform significantly better.
Historically, Apple has done well in fields that others have ventured into. It has not often been a true pioneer: it lets others take the initial risks and then aims to produce an improved model. Look at how long it’s taken Apple to release a foldable phone, for example – something we know it’s currently working on. With its smart glasses, Apple will look to correct the mistakes it sees Meta making, fixing the weak points of the form factor and launching the product when potential customers have become accustomed to the new concept of smart glasses.
The same goes for an AI pin or pendant. The Humane AI Pin was its own device and it failed, 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; By all accounts, you want to add to it, keeping it as a hub in your pocket and reducing the need to take it out all the time. AirPods with AI cameras would be a similar concept.
It’s about making technology easier to use and reducing friction between the user and their devices. That’s something Apple has always excelled at, and I see no reason why these rumored devices shouldn’t be successful.
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