To make the Apple Watch a full-fledged wearable device with artificial intelligence support, Apple is working on several versions of the watch equipped with cameras. This will help the device «to see the world around it», according to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg.
This initiative is related to the development of Visual Intelligence technology, which Apple also plans to integrate into AirPods. Currently, Visual Intelligence is largely dependent on ChatGPT and Google, but, according to Gurman, the company wants to transfer this work to internal development:
«Apple intends to make Visual Intelligence a key technology in future devices, including the camera-capable AirPods I’ve been writing about for several months. The company is also looking to move Visual Intelligence to its own AI models rather than relying on OpenAI and Google.»
As for the Apple Watch with cameras, Gurman reports that the company is working on them for the standard and Ultra versions of the watch.
In the standard version of Apple Watch, the camera can be built right into the display, similar to the iPhone. It is not yet known whether it will be an under-screen camera technology or a classic notch.
In the Apple Watch Ultra, the camera can be located on the side, next to the Digital Crown wheel and the button. This is possible due to the larger Ultra case. This is likely to be a more convenient camera location for users who will be able to point the camera at objects for scanning.
Thanks to the additional «eye, the» watch will be able to connect to Visual Intelligence tools that can perform actions such as object identification or text translation in an image.
The Apple Watch with cameras is expected to appear no earlier than 2027, along with AirPods with built-in cameras. It all depends on Apple’s progress in artificial intelligence. Currently, in this area Apple has too many unsolved problemsthat cause delays in the implementation of AI functions.