Apple Ring? New patent shows that's possible

Apple is granted a patent for a "wearable electronic ring computing device", which presumobably called Apple Ring outlines design options and functionality for a device that would wirelessly interact with your iPhone or MacBook.

The device, let's just call it the Apple Ring, would feature a touchscreen and microphone, house a computer processor, a wireless transceiver and various sensors, and also have its own rechargeable power source.

As an Apple product, it will have Siri built in and, according to the patent, work with hand gestures.

Why use an Apple Ring to control another device? As Apple states in the patent, current touchscreen devices could be "cumbersome, inconvenient, or inefficient for certain tasks and applications."

As an example, Apple says that after holding an iPhone or iPad for some time, the user's hands and/or arms could get fatigued.

In addition, the light given off by a touchscreen device could be "inappropriate in certain social environments or even dangerous if it gives away the position of a threatened user."

Apple believes that the use of such a ring as laid out in the patent would be a more efficient, safer, discreet and ergonomic way for consumers to interact with a touchscreen device.

One of the more interesting things about the idea of an “Apple Ring” is that it isn’t new. In fact, rumors of a similar wearable device can be found as early as 2013.

At the time, Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White theorized that Apple would launch a “full-blown television set” later that yet. Essentially, an Apple-produced smart TV instead of a set-top box.

That rumor never panned out, but it did contain an interesting tidbit concerning wearables. White predicted that Apple would also debut an “iRing” accessory that could be used as a “navigation pointer” for the TV set. (Amusingly, he also accurately predicted that an “iWatch” could replace the need to carry around a smartphone.)

The idea of a finger-worn smart accessory has also popped up elsewhere over the years, including in a 2015 patent that describes a “ring computing device.”