Apple iRing: Netflix’s The Platform (2019) showed us what happens when the top floor hoards th...
Smart rings spent a decade as a quiet curiosity, and now Apple wants in. A leaker known as Kosutami floated that an Apple ring is under development, paired with a caption treating the news as obvious. My first reaction was a tired nod. Apple arriving after Samsung and Oura proved the demand feels about as predictable as another deadline-day midfielder at Chelsea.
Why Apple is circling rings now
Apple’s wearables division pulls in about $40 billion a year, and that number slipped 7% across 2025. The Apple Watch took the harder hit, with sales down around 14%. People hold onto their watches because each new model feels like a polite refresh rather than a reason to upgrade. So Apple needs a fresh shape to sell, and a ring is the obvious candidate.
The market math backs the move. Ring shipments jumped 49% in 2025 while smartwatches grew about 6%, according to IDC. That gap explains the boardroom interest more than any single feature does. Smart rings are the segment with momentum, and Apple doesn’t ignore a fast-moving market.
The detail nobody is flagging
One detail makes the timing almost funny. Brian Lynch had been Apple’s senior director for home devices since 2022. He has now left to join Oura as its senior vice president of hardware engineering. Talent flowing toward Oura tells me more about the state of play than any rumor does.
Related: iPhone 18 leaks: Pro Max to get variable aperture cameras, Dynamic Island shrinks
Losing the person who oversaw home hardware to a ring maker, right as you plan your own ring, reads like a script. Maybe Apple keeps the broader roadmap intact without him. Even so, the optics suggest Oura still holds the gravity in smart ring market, and Apple is the one playing catch-up.
The subscription opening
Oura Ring 5
Oura built itself into an $11 billion company partly on a membership fee and chased a full year of ten-figure revenue in 2025. You pay $5.99 a month or $69.99 a year, and skipping it strips the ring down to a few basic scores. Plenty of owners on Reddit describe buying the hardware and then paying again to switch it on. The resentment is loud, and it’s the Cupertino giant’s clearest opening.
RingConn Gen 3
Apple could win goodwill simply by charging once and walking away. RingConn already proves the no-subscription approach works, selling a capable ring near $199 with no monthly toll. Were Apple to match the integration owners expect and drop the recurring fee, the pitch writes itself. My wallet, scarred by enough subscriptions already, would perk up.
Related: I refuse to pay a monthly fee—here are the best smart rings without a subscription for iPhone users
The problem Apple keeps bumping into
A ring that mirrors the Apple Watch also competes with it. That tension has kept the rumor in limbo for years, and I understand the hesitation. Selling a $400 ring that nibbles at a more profitable watch, one loaded with a screen, Apple Pay, and apps, looks like a scene from The Platform (2019), where inmates on the lower levels amputate and eat their own flesh. The honest counter is that someone else will sell the ring regardless.
Samsung shipped a ring despite owning a strong watch line, and the sky stayed up. Apple watching rivals carve out a category it could dominate seems worse for the brand than a little cannibalization. I’d rather Apple eat its own lunch than hand the plate to Oura. Defending the watch at all costs starts to resemble managing a slow decline.
Will an Apple ring even ship?
Calling it the iRing might be the safest bet to get wrong. Apple retired the lowercase “i” prefix more than a decade ago, so an Apple Ring is the likelier label if anything reaches buyers. And shipping is the operative worry. Apple tests piles of products that never reach a shelf, from the abandoned car to glasses redesigned more than once.
Rings carry hard limits too, and I won’t pretend otherwise. They struggle with workout tracking, the batteries can fade within a couple of years, and you cannot swap a cell the way you would in a watch. An Apple ring would inherit every one of these constraints. My hope is for a companion to the watch rather than a replacement, worn overnight when a wrist gadget feels like too much.
My take
The smart ring category has the wind behind it, Apple has the ecosystem to make a ring feel coherent, and the subscription-free angle is begging to be claimed. Whether the idea stays in a Cupertino lab is the open question. I’d wear an Apple ring at night in a heartbeat, provided it skips the membership bill and plays nicely with the iPhone already glued to my hand.
Related: First impressions: Why Meta’s cheapest smart glasses yet made me both impressed and skeptical
