Could Apple Watch Be the Answer to Apple's AI Future?
The following post is adapted from a recent video I posted to YouTube. If you prefer watching, you can do so here:
If you prefer to read, here goes:
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about three different news stories in tech. Three stories that are not the same and yet, I think, triangulate towards a larger problem Apple is having with AI on their hardware…and a potential path forward for them.
One - OpenAI and Jony Ive are hitting roadblocks with their AI hardware device.
Two - Meta has a minor hit on their hands with their AI glasses, having just announced a gen 2 version, including one with a display.
And, three, in response, Apple is pulling teams off a revamped Vision Pro project to make their own AI glasses
So what does this tell us?
There are folks who want to make AI a more personal and mobile part of their lives;
There is early success with glasses being the current form factor to express this;
Even for a company with massive resources like OpenAI, merging cellular technology, silicon, and portability is hard.
But here’s the thing: I have doubts that glasses will be the desired form factor for most people.
Now look, some may argue that the mobile phone is already the perfect form factor for an AI device.
But I know there are times when I would be open to a form factor that isn’t a phone that can capture my thoughts and tasks.
Which is why, at least for me, an AI pendant is intriguing.
Imagine taking a walk with your dog, or a hike, and you get an idea for something that you want to capture quickly. Wouldn’t it be great to do that without pulling out your phone, in a way that either perfectly transcribes your text, or summarizes the essence of your text for a future use, maybe in a notes app or in a task manager?
I’m not saying an AI pendant is a device everyone will want to carry in addition to their phones, but I think there’s something compelling about it for me, and I would imagine for a meaningful number of other folks, too.
That brings me to Apple, which is apparently shifting their resources towards smart glasses, an AI pendant that people will wear on their face. If Meta is showing early success with this form factor, doesn’t it track that glasses are the way forward for AI devices?
Or does it?
And, also, doesn’t Apple already have a pendant-like device that’s:
small and pocketable
has an advanced processor
cellular connectivity
a microphone
and a screen when needed
Even Craig Federichi alluded to this in an interview with Joanna Stern back in June (it’s around the 19 minute mark).
He literally says it’s “pretty hard to beat something that’s with you all the time and glanceable,” while pointing to his wrist.
Stop the presses, that’s compelling. Craig provided a path forward for Apple, AI and pendants. That isn’t three things, it’s one thing. It’s Apple Watch. And that was in June.
So, why are they now putting all their resources into glasses? They’re already 75% of the way towards an AI pendant with Apple Watch. The problem, I suspect, is the other 25%. Does Apple have the vision and the stamina to turn the Apple Watch into a class leader in the AI device category?
Sure, I can sort of add a task to my watch while walking my dog, but it’s not reliable or quick. I can’t say to my watch, one handed:
Hey Siri, please add the following three tasks to my Todoist project for Work with a due date of tomorrow and a high importance flag.
Or I can’t say, Hey Siri, can you remind if I bought tickets for the Tuesday or Thursday night Rush reunion concert?
Or, Hey Siri, I think I forgot to set the alarm and turn off the AC, can you please do that for me and also remember to turn the HVAC on when I leave the office so the house is cool when I get home?
So yes, while the Watch can support some limited voice commands, it’s not yet the AI companion I really want. And there are situations when I don’t want to pull out my phone, but I would like to have an AI assistant to help me process multi-step prompts with my voice.
So why can’t Apple Watch do this?
I suspect it’s a combination of not enough local processing power on the watch, and also their ongoing struggles to revamp Siri for the AI world.
If I were Apple sure, I guess I’d be working on glasses because it seems like there is some market for them. But I’m not convinced the market for AI glasses is as big as the market could be for an AI pendant device that is…almost any form factor other than something you wear on your face.
And Apple already has a pendant: Apple Watch.
Plus, the silicon, computational power, and cellular connectivity will continue to pose significant challenges for glasses for years to come. However, the Watch form factor is likely only a chip or two away from processing complex AI requests locally on device.
So, if I were Apple, instead of spending resources trying to beat Meta at glasses, or Jony Ive and Sam Altman in the pendant race, I’d be focusing on the pendant they already have.
What do you think? Do you even want an AI device that’s wearable but not a phone? And, if so, what’s your desired form factor? Let me know in the comments below.
I’m also on Threads at www.threads.com/@danielkuney.