Apple Ring: Latest rumors & everything we know about an Apple smart ring
Will Apple's next big thing be a smart ring? We analyze the state of play and answer the key questions.
The concept of an Apple smart ring has been gaining attention since the company was first awarded a related patent in 2015. However, more than a decade on, there’s still no resounding evidence to suggest an ‘Apple Ring’ is in development or set for release any time soon.
That doesn’t mean it’s not still a possibility for the future, though.
In addition to the numerous concepts and features envisioned in patent sketches, the occasional credible report in the last few years has hinted that a smart ring is a serious consideration for the Cupertino giant.
With brands such as Oura finding great success in the space, too, and traditional rivals like Samsung expected to deliver new hardware in 2026, it feels more likely than ever that Apple may enter the product category in the coming years.
In this guide, we’ll summarise everything there is to know about an Apple smart ring. You’ll discover hints at what an ‘iRing’ would actually do, how much we think one could retail at, and when it could potentially launch.
Is Apple actually working on a smart ring?
For years, the consensus from top industry insiders was that Apple had entirely written off a finger wearable. The Apple Vision Pro headset signified the brand’s latest significant hardware advancement, and prioritizing the technology while developing its ambient computing platform alongside Apple Intelligence was believed to be the company’s primary focus this decade.
As such, more limited projects like a smart ring didn’t seem to be a priority. Even the fabled ‘Project Titan’—relating to the long-rumored Apple Car—was reportedly scrapped once and for all in 2024.
That narrative has slightly shifted with the above note suggesting that an Apple smart ring project is actively progressing through the company's development pipeline. However, since this is—for now—an isolated report, it's important to take it with a pinch of salt.
What previous reporting suggested
The most reliable benchmark is still Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who reported in late 2024 that Apple had no plans to release a smart ring, believing one would “detract from the Apple Watch” and could “cannibalize” sales.
While that argument has long defined Apple's hesitation, the commercial success of devices like the $399 Oura Ring 5 may have been the catalyst for the reported pivot to active development.
If that is the case, it would mean the steady flow of historic patents is no longer just static blueprinting—and that the in-house team is actively pushing past due diligence and into concrete prototyping phases.
If they are, however, it’s much more probable that the company is working on a non-traditional smart ring, as discussed below.
When could an Apple smart ring realistically launch?
A launch this year remains highly unlikely, but the timeline may have accelerated following that aforementioned rumor suggesting that active development of an Apple smart ring has begun.
While it's not clear, this does hint that in-house prototyping will be taking place—and this drastically increases the chances that we'll see a release over the coming couple of years.
What form this development takes, however, remains uncertain. However, based on patents we've uncovered over the last couple of years (detailed below), Apple has generally appeared most interested in a smart ring as an input device.
With the company investing heavily in the Apple Vision Pro and mixed reality over the last half-decade, too, it's conceivable that a smart ring-like device could arrive as a gesture-based controller on the finger.
It's still somewhat of a long shot, but this appears to be the most likely avenue for an Apple smart ring release. This focus also suggests that an Apple ring wouldn't overlap with the Apple Watch line, which is reportedly a concern within the company regarding a smart ring.
Closer than ever, but still anything but certain
If active prototype testing is underway, a commercial launch in 2027 or 2028 is well within the realm of possibility.
However, as we've seen with plenty of Apple projects over the last couple of decades, it's just as likely a smart ring never actually comes to fruition.
We remain skeptical, but if reports from industry insiders begin to ramp up over the next 6-12 months, we'll update this section.
How much would an Apple smart ring cost?
Without clear indications of what Apple might develop a smart ring to accomplish, predicting the approximate cost is as challenging as it seems.
Based on what we know about the company's other products, though, it's fair to expect a slight premium over the market. And given that the current industry leader, Oura, has the re-engineered Ring 5 starting at $399, this is the minimum an Apple smart ring could arrive at.
With some inflation factored in, the Apple ring's price would likely be even higher than this. However, the price depends on many factors.
For instance, an Apple ring might be offered as an accessory rather than a premium device, which could result in a price closer to $300. At this point, it's anyone's guess.
Potential Apple smart ring features and functions
It would be logical to suggest that an Apple smart ring would follow current smart ring trends, focusing on health monitoring.
This is possible, especially with Apple's focus on Apple Watch health features. However, most patents envision a ring integrating as a controller within the Apple ecosystem.
Let's look at some of the most notable patents that have emerged over the last few years.
Touch-sensitive controller
A patent we reported in 2020 builds on an earlier filing relating to the idea of a smart ring acting as a controller, discussing "faster, more efficient methods and interfaces for controlling external electronic devices" in the fine print.
While other patents relate to gesture or voice control, this filing details the possibility of a screen appearing on a ring device.
"The ring computing device can also receive information from external devices in the form of messages or images on a touchscreen, pulses or vibrations of haptic actuators, and sound," the patent includes.
AR/VR headset control
As detailed in two recently granted patent applications—one in December 2022 and the other uncovered by Wareable in June 2024—the potential ring could be used directly alongside an AR/VR headset.
"A finger device may be used as a controller for a virtual reality or mixed reality device (e.g., head-mounted equipment such as glasses, goggles, a helmet, or other device with a display)," the earlier patent's description reads.
The application also references haptic feedback as part of the experience, with the position of the non-ring-wearing fingers able to register based on the position of the ring-wearing finger.
The later filing describes a ring-like design equipped with force sensors that can detect the exertion of a finger press and transmit it to a VR/AR headset.
Gesture and swipe control for phones and earbuds
In this patent granted to Apple by the USPTO, the company again views the smart ring form factor as a controller. As in other concepts, the function is primarily related to interacting more easily with AR/VR devices, laptops, and phones.
However, while other patents relate to touch control or location tracking, this filing instead looks at gestures. It even details the concept of a scrolling ball, similar to a computer mouse.
"Ring input device can be utilized to provide wireless inputs for a wide variety of devices. Ring input device could be used to provide inputs to handheld devices such as smartphones (scrolling through a list using the outer band)," the patent reads.
The ring controls wearables, headphones, smart home devices, and computers.
Blood pressure and blood oxygen monitoring
In another December 2022 smart ring patent won by Apple, entitled 'Wearable Self-Mixing Interferometry Device Used To Sense Physiological Conditions', the company deviates from its typical idea of a smart ring being a controller and instead focuses on health tracking applications.
The patent describes a ring that tracks heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, and blood pressure, featuring an OLED display in one figure.
It's similar to a newer filing Wareable discovered in June 2024, which details the same SMI technology to detect physiological conditions.
In this later patent (discussed in-depth here), the SMI tech uses light configured to output towards the user’s skin to “detect displacements of the skin relative to the sensor, such as expanding and contracting of the skin due to a user’s heartbeat,” the patent says.
“The data collected by the wearable device may be used to determine one or more physiological conditions for a user such as a heart rate.”
Most wearable devices with optical heart rate sensors use photoplethysmography (PPG), which uses infrared LEDs to illuminate the skin and detect cardiac signals. However, the patent descriptions suggest that SMI and PPG methods could be combined to yield more accurate measurements.
