Cameras and Visual Intelligence are coming soon to the Apple Watch says fresh report
When Samsung released its first smartwatch in September 2013, the Galaxy Gear featured a 1.9 MP camera. This was found along the top of the wearable's wrist strap. But this is a feature that you do not find anymore on Sammy's wrist-worn connected devices. And while the Apple Watch does not ship with a camera, an accessory such as Wristcam adds two cameras (one that is aimed at the user and the other at the outside world) to the Apple Watch via a special wristband.
The Wristcam accessory adds cameras to your Apple Watch right now
Priced at $299, Wristcam will allow you to make a video call but not through the FaceTime app. The world-facing camera weighs in at 8 MP while the self-facing camera is backed by a 2 MP sensor. Both sensors employed are made by Sony.
The world-facing camera is one of two that come with the Webcam feature for the Apple Watch. | Image credit-Webcam
If you are intrigued with the idea of having a camera on your Apple Watch but are not excited with the prospect of having to pay extra for it, being patient might soon pay off if Bloomberg's Managing Editor for Global Consumer Tech, Mark Gurman, is right. In the latest edition of his Power On weekly newsletter, Gurman says that Apple is looking to add cameras to its Apple Watch Series and Ultra models.
Similar to the tech giant's rumored plan to add a camera to the AirPods, adding the technology to the timepiece will help the Apple Watch understand where it is in relation to the outside world allowing the user to employ the Visual Intelligence feature as a way to receive information. The Visual Intelligence feature is available with the Camera Control button on the iPhone 16 series and via the Action Button on the iPhone 16e, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The latter two models will receive the feature with the iOS 18.4 update.
Because I have the iOS 18.4 beta running on my iPhone 15 Pro Max, I've used the Visual Intelligence feature, and it goes a bit beyond Google Lens. Using your camera or a photo from your Photos app, you can have something or someplace in front of your camera run through Google Search or ChatGPT. You can add the date of a concert you see promoted on a poster to your Calendar app, see the menu of the restaurant you're standing in front of, and more. It's a useful tool for iPhone users and according to Gurman, Apple hopes to eventually use its own AI models instead of relying on ChatGPT and Google.
Apple might ship camera-equipped Apple Watch Series and Ultra units fairly soon
Returning to the Apple Watch, the Series timepieces could have a camera placed inside the screen similar to where the selfie camera is found on the iPhone. On the premium Apple Watch Ultra models, the camera could be on the side near the crown and button. This will make it easier for Ultra users to aim their camera at a particular item to scan while Apple Watch Series users will have to turn their wrists over. Most likely, these cameras won't support FaceTime due to the small screen real estate available on the device. Additionally, users might not be able to hold up their wrists long enough to remain comfortable during an extended video chat.
Speaking about the Apple Watch, Gurman says that the Blood Pressure monitoring feature that Apple hoped to include with the new watches later this year is running into issues and the plastic case being developed for the new low-priced SE model also needs work; Gurman says that the design team is not happy with how it looks.
According to Gurman, who is as much an Apple insider as any journalist can be, we could see cameras added to the Apple Watch Series and Ultra models by 2027.
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