Apple has abandoned its plans to integrate a camera into the Apple Watch, according to a Bloomberg News report on Thursday. The company had been working on incorporating camera technology into both the standard Apple Watch and Apple Watch Ultra models. However, development on these projects was officially terminated this week, halting efforts to bring this feature to the popular wearable device.
The envisioned camera for the Apple Watch was not intended for conventional uses like FaceTime calls or taking photos. Instead, it was designed to enable users to gather information about their surroundings. By pointing the watch at objects or locations, users could have accessed details such as a restaurant’s operating hours, identified plants, described objects, or even obtained real-time language translations, enhancing the watch’s utility in everyday scenarios.
This camera functionality would have mirrored Apple’s Visual Intelligence, an AI-driven feature available on iPhones that allows users to point their camera at objects to retrieve relevant information. While the camera-equipped Apple Watch aimed to bring similar capabilities to the wrist, Apple’s decision to scrap the project means users will not see this technology in upcoming Apple Watch models.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
The company had actively been working to release a camera-equipped Apple Watch and Apple Watch Ultra by 2027, but that work was shut down this week, according to the people familiar with the situation.
MacDailyNews Take: Yet another fruitless dead end at Tim Cook’s Apple (which is a stunning achievement from inside an infinite loop named after an apple).
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lol so bad
How is Tim Cook responsible for this, this is an engineering issue and if the engineers can’t make it work that’s their responsibility. My guess is that the engineers weren’t able to source a camera module small and low power enough to put in a watch. I’m not defending Tim Cook by any stretch he deserves the criticism for the AI debacle but not this.
This was a brain dead idea to begin with so yes, it is Tim Apple’s fault 100%
I wonder how come none of the DEI hires we’ve been seeing in Apple keynotes for past 5y (with the exception of top brass) can’t come up with anything meaningful….wasn’t diversity a strenght or something?🤔
Job #1. Dump Cook
Job #2. Back a dump truck up into the courtyard at Apple, tear down and load up the alter to the Woke God Hombisek. Head to the landfill and unload the trash there for burial. Then, maybe go get a burger.
By the way, Ivy is no threat to Apple. Trump may be after he just announced a 25% tariff on all iphones sold in the US but not made in the US. Stupid. Stock down 9%
Put a killer version of Siri in the Apple Watch.
That is all.
Seriously, that’s the killer form-factor for AI hardware. That’s what will define the first generation of consumer AI.
There will never be a killer version of Siri.
Fire Tim Cook.
This sounded like a weak idea in the first place. No one wants to point their watch at things, even having FaceTime on your watch isn’t a great idea because you have to awkwardly hold you arm up to use it. The Watch is for quick glances, this AI recognition of your surroundings is tailor made for smart glasses and to a lesser extent iPhones with their high quality cameras.