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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