Apple's Next Big Thing - A Gadget That Hears for You? Rumors & Details Revealed Now

Apple’s Next Big Thing - A Gadget That Hears for You? Rumors & Details Revealed Now

In This Article

Apple may be working on a small wearable device that projects audio beams at the user’s ears to let them hear audio without headphones. News of this device came in a patent filing granted to the company in May 2024. This article explains what the patent covers, what the product might be, and what we know about it.

What Is the Apple Wearable Device With Direct Audio Release Date?

There’s not a lot to go on about this device, just the patent—and not all patents lead to products. In fact, Apple and other tech companies receive hundreds and thousands of patents every year, and not all of that technology makes it to market.

Given that there are no rumors of an actual product using this technology, it’s too early to know a release date for this unnamed device (if it gets released at all).

Lifewire’s Release Date Estimate

We don’t expect to see this direct audio device until late 2025 or 2026 (or maybe even later).

Pre-Order Information

Given that there aren’t even rumors of a product here, there’s no pre-order information to share right now. We’ll update this article if that changes.

Apple Wearable Device With Direct Audio Price Rumors

The rumor mill doesn’t have anything to say about prices for an Apple wearable with direct audio. If and when such a product is released, we expect it would cost at least as much as AirPods Pro ($249). It wouldn’t surprise us if the price tag were higher.

Apple Wearable Device With Direct Audio Features

Apple’s patent for this wearable computing device (Patent #US 11979721 B2 ) describes a gadget that can be worn on clothes and contains a set of speakers and microphones. The speakers beam audio to the wearer’s ears, while the microphones take voice commands (probably to Apple’s digital assistant, Siri).

Apple, Inc / USPTO

It’s not hard to imagine that this device could be a next-generation AirPods product. It also brings to mind wearable computers like theHumane AI pin . While that particular product hasn’t succeeded, the concept of a wearable device with a next-generation interface could likely crop up more in the coming years.

While we don’t know much about this potential product yet, the patent describes two key features:

Directional audio
Microphones for commands, user identification, and calibration.

Directional Audio

The patent discusses an array of parametric speakers that send sound beams to the wearer’s ears (this is called directional audio).

By making these beams of sound small and focused, the user can hear audio from the device without other people nearby—even people within a foot or two of the wearer—picking it up. That means the user doesn’t need to wear earbuds or headphones to listen to music or make phone calls.

Directional audio using parametric speakers may sound futuristic, but it already exists in a few products.

Microphones for Commands, User Identification, and Callibration

The patented device would also contain microphones. These could be used for commands with avirtual assistant like Apple Intelligence or Siri.

The patent also mentions user identification—presumably the device would get to know your voice and maybe even use it as a password (the HomePod does something similar withPersonal Requests )—and calibration (likely to gauge background noise and vocal volume to attune the device to the user and its surroundings).

The Latest News About the Apple Wearable Device With Direct Audio

Lifewire delivers all the latest news and opinions aboutear buds and other wearable devices . Some articles in these areas that might interest you include:

AirPods Pro 3: News and Expected Price, Release Date, Specs; and More Rumors

People Love Their Phones Too Much to Use Humane’s Flawed AI Pin

What Is Apple Intelligence?

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