Apple’s Next Big Health Play Might Sit Right on Your Face
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Between the Apple Watch and the integrated heart rate sensors on the AirPods Pro 3, it’s obvious that Apple is serious about finding fitness and health-related applications for its products. So, it’s not too surprising to learn that it’s considering adding another rumored product into the mix.
By all accounts, Apple’s next big innovation is expected to be a pair of smart glasses that could arrive at next year’s Worldwide Developers Conference. However, while the rumors thus far have pointed to something derivative of Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses, it seems Apple could have another trick up its sleeve.
In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman points out a new job listing for a “strategic product design leader” within Apple’s Vision Products Group — the team behind the Vision Pro and future smart glasses. The smoking gun that this is about fitness? The new hire is expected to “define the future of health, well-being and fitness experiences across vision products.”
The rest of the job requirements are similarly descriptive, including “experience developing and validating digital health or fitness products” and “familiarity with sensor-driven experiences.”
Although the Vision Products Group handles more than just the rumored smart glasses, it’s hard to imagine this fitting in anywhere else. The Vision Pro is far too clunky to be worn as a fitness device — at least for anything other than neck strengthening exercises — and Gurman notes that Apple apparently already explored health and fitness features that it ultimately dismissed “due to technological hurdles and the headset itself being too heavy.”
During the development stages of the Vision Pro, Apple executives apparently envisioned running Apple Fitness+ directly inside the headset, so users could engage in spatial video workouts with body-tracking technology analyzing movements and even possibly providing fitness coaching. Of course, anyone who has ever tried on a Vision Pro realizes just how awkward this would be, so it’s not surprising this never went beyond the concept stage.
The Apple smart glasses aren’t expected to have integrated displays, of course, so this won’t be nearly as ambitious of an undertaking. Instead, Gurman suggests that it would be about incorporating advanced sensors and cameras to track movements.
Several reports indicate Apple has been exploring ways to differentiate its smart glasses from the rest of the pack to stick with its usual philosophy of introducing something superior to the competition. Thanks to Meta, Amazon, and Google, Apple is entering a somewhat saturated market, but also a highly nervous one.
Smart glasses haven’t been well-received in many corners because they can be downright creepy — and it doesn’t help that there are plenty of people abusing them to take clandestine videos or even just pulling pranks and getting in people’s faces.
Focusing on privacy could give Apple a massive edge over the competition in the current landscape, but it would also have to work hard to raise consumer awareness that its glasses aren’t like all the others. Company executives have gone so far as to consider removing photo and video capture capabilities — or even removing the cameras entirely.
Apple also reportedly plans to out-fashion the competition by creating its own designs instead of relying on established partners like Ray-Ban, Oakley, or Warby Parker the way its competitors have done.
Advanced health and fitness features would also set the Apple smart glasses apart, as it’s an area that few of its rivals have fully explored. However, Gurman also notes that he doesn’t expect these features to be available on the first-generation model that arrives next year, but rather for it to evolve over the long term. That raises the question of whether Apple can get ahead in the optical health and fitness game, or if it will end up playing catch-up as competitors like Meta and Google gain momentum.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
