As AI continues to dominate Apple ’s strategic roadmap , a newfangled report indicates the caller wants to reimagine the Apple Watch as a camera - outfit AI assistant .
The iPhone and Mac ranges have already gained AI features , thanks to the ( gradualandfrequently delayed ) rollout of Apple Intelligence . But these are both products that the proprietor has to actively bring into use : sitting at a desk , opening a lid , and taking a French telephone out of a sack . Whereas futurist believe AI will arise and thrive as a zero - friction engineering science that ’s with us all of the sentence .
To an extent this framework jibe with the conception of the smart speaker unit , since this is justthere ; all you need to do is talk to it . But such devices are not portable , which is why we ’ve seen the maturation of the AI wearable , a consecrate equipment that is continuously approachable to answer questions and provide information on the world around the user . The two most famous deterrent example so far have been theHumane AIand theRabbit r1 , but neither have been successful . ( The YouTuber Marques Brownlee called the former “ the bad product I ’ve ever reviewed ” and the latter “ hardly reviewable . ” ) There stay a gap in the market .
But there are two things forestall the Watch from doing the job convincingly at this peak : it does n’t have a camera , which is all important for a portion of visual and geographically contextual queries , and it is n’t in line to get the Apple Intelligence - based smarter Siri .
The latter persist a worrisome headspring - scratcher , but we ’d go for that Siri will get sort out finally ( now that Apple istaking the problem seriously ) and that Apple Intelligence will make its way to watchOS within a year or two . And the camera payoff is in hand , according to Gurman ’s sources : “ The company is work on newfangled versions of the Apple Watch that admit camera , ” he write . “ As with thefuture AirPods , this would help the equipment see the outside world and use AI to deliver relevant information . ”
Gurman take Apple is working on two different access to this : a camera under the display for the received lookout , and a camera genus Lens “ sitting on the side of the watch near the crown and button ” for the Ultra models . The second design sound easy for the user , who wo n’t need to bend their wrist to point the camera at relevant objects but is more worthy for a bulkier chassis .
The cameras will be there for AI purposes only , so do n’t gestate to be able to use them to enamour sharp selfies or have FaceTime conversation ; those things may follow but are not the point . For that matter , do n’t bear any of this to happen this year . Gurman say the growth is still multiple generations away from launching .