As Tim Cook prepares to pass the Apple CEO role to John Ternus, the direction of the company's product lineup remains unclear. Folding phones, touchscreen Macs and even robotic HomePads might appear in the coming years. A wave of AI wearables is also likely. With Apple's WWDC developer conference approaching, details on the AI needed to support these products are still missing.

Reports about three AI wearable devices have circulated for the past year. These include smart glasses, a camera-equipped pendant and camera-enabled AirPods. Combined with the Apple Watch and yearly iPhone updates that would connect to them, the lineup is extensive.

Most tech firms discuss AI constantly. Google's I/O event last month focused heavily on AI and AI-powered smart glasses. Apple has stayed relatively silent after the modest rollout of Apple Intelligence in 2024. A Google Gemini partnership for Siri was revealed in January, however.

Apple must now share specifics on a Gemini-enhanced Siri and how it would function. WWDC offers the ideal moment for that.

AI Remains Essential for Future and Existing Products

Advanced wearable devices that Apple appears prepared to develop require stronger AI capabilities. These include camera-based awareness, improved voice handling and deeper text and voice processing that other major platforms already provide. Apple has not yet delivered this level of AI, one that operates across devices, manages data privately and avoids new subscription costs.

Apple might rely on AI running on its own hardware, as it has with Apple Intelligence. Mac Mini units are already used for local AI tasks. Faster iPhone and Apple Watch chips each year could allow more on-device processing without cloud connections.

A key gap is advanced visual intelligence or multimodal AI. Basic Visual Intelligence exists on iPhones. The Vision Pro lacks many camera-aware AI features found in competing headsets from Samsung and Google, though its M5 chip could support them if the software arrives.

New Wearables Will Arrive Gradually, With Some Expected Soon

Apple needs both new hardware ready for AI and the AI itself. Recent reports indicate smart glasses are now planned for late 2027, while camera-enabled AirPods may launch by the end of this year.

Current smart glasses rely heavily on AI. They use microphones, voice interaction and camera features to translate, identify and describe surroundings. They can also assist vision-impaired users. These devices connect to phones for cloud AI but offer some offline voice functions.

AI pendants follow a similar approach but prioritize battery life and serve as a glasses alternative.

Camera-enabled AirPods could arrive this fall as an early step, introducing sensors that work with an improved Siri. Deeper features might come later once Gemini functions are more complete.

The Apple Watch could gain AI advantages sooner. Analysis of health data, similar to features on other wearables, could appear in the Health app. The Watch might also respond better to voice commands. Additional wrist gestures could interact with AI, demonstrating how it might function on earbuds, glasses and pendants.

WWDC will provide more information, though not all answers. Further updates will follow the event.