The smartwatch market has spent years adding bigger displays, more apps and ever more features. But the latest wearable trend appears to be heading in the opposite direction.
Whoop, Google’s Fitbit Air and Garmin’s newly announced Cirqa all ditch the screen in favour of a lightweight health tracker designed to be worn around the clock . And while Apple hasn’t been credibly linked with a rival device, that hasn’t stopped rumours of a so-called Apple Watch Neo fitness tracker from making the rounds
Price and release date
Okay, so at the time of writing, there are no credible reports that Apple is developing a screen-free fitness tracker. Neither Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman nor analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has suggested such a device is on the roadmap, and Apple’s supply chain has remained similarly quiet. Given that those are the two usual credible suspects when it comes to Apple rumours, it’s safe to see that we’re a long way off.
The Apple Watch Neo name isn’t based on a leak either. It originated as a fan concept rather than an official codename or trademark, so it should be treated as exactly that.
What has changed is the market itself. Google has already launched the Fitbit Air, while Garmin announced the Cirqa, showing that more companies see potential in joining established screenless wearables like Whoop that prioritise passive health tracking over smartwatch features.
Whether Apple decides to enter that category is another question entirely. The company often waits for a product category to mature before putting its own spin on it, but there’s nothing to suggest that an Apple fitness band is currently in development.
Design and build
There are no leaked renders or supply-chain reports revealing what an Apple fitness band might look like.
What today’s screen-free wearables do show is the direction the category is taking. Rather than acting as miniature smartphones, devices like the Fitbit Air and Garmin Cirqa (pictured above) are designed to stay out of the way, collecting health data in the background while leaving detailed insights to their companion apps.
If Apple ever entered the category, we’d expect it to be guided more by that philosophy than by the Apple Watch. A screen-free fitness tracker would need to feel like a distinct product rather than simply a smartwatch with features removed.
One recent rumour has prompted a little more discussion. In July, leaker Kosutami claimed Apple was experimenting with health sensors built into a future Apple Watch band. The report hasn’t been corroborated by other reliable sources, so it should be treated with caution, but it does echo Apple’s long-standing interest in wearable sensors and smarter watch straps.
That isn’t evidence that an Apple fitness band is on the way. It does, however, suggest that Apple could be continuing to explore new ways of gathering health data beyond the hardware found in today’s Apple Watch.
Screen
If an Apple fitness band ever arrives, the screen is the one thing we’d hope Apple leaves out.
That’s the defining characteristic of today’s new breed of wearables. Fitbit Air and Garmin Cirqa are designed to collect health data quietly in the background, with detailed insights viewed later in their companion apps rather than on your wrist.
Apple already has the Health and Fitness apps on the iPhone, giving it somewhere for that information to live without needing another watch-sized display.
Keeping the tracker screen-free would also help separate it from the Apple Watch. Rather than becoming a cheaper smartwatch, an Apple fitness band could exist as a simpler device aimed purely at health and fitness tracking.
Specs and health features
Apple already has much of the technology needed for a screen-free fitness tracker.
Current Apple Watches can monitor heart rate, activity, sleep, heart rate variability and skin temperature, while the Health app brings that data together with information from other devices and third-party apps.
That doesn’t mean that an Apple fitness band would necessarily include every one of those features, though. Existing screen-free trackers tend to focus on the essentials, leaving more advanced fitness and smartwatch functions to larger devices.
The recent rumour about health sensors moving into a future Apple Watch band is also worth mentioning, although carefully. It comes from a single source and hasn’t been backed up by Apple’s better-known analysts or supply-chain reports. Even if it proves accurate, it wouldn’t necessarily point to a dedicated Apple fitness band.
For now, Apple’s existing health platform is a stronger indication of what an Apple fitness band might offer than any rumour.
Elsewhere, battery life is one area where a screen-free design could offer a big advantage. Without a bright display constantly lighting up, it could last considerably longer than most smartwatches.
For now, though, the Apple Watch Neo remains exactly what it’s always been – a fan-made concept rather than a genuine Apple rumour. Even so, the conversation around it has changed. Screen-free fitness trackers are no longer just an idea. Google has one. Garmin has one. That alone makes it interesting to consider whether Apple might eventually explore the same category. If it does, you can rest assured that we’ll be one of the first to try it out…
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