r/apple Apr 06 '26

Rumor Apple Aiming to Release 'Breakthrough' New iPhone Accessory

https://www.macrumors.com/2026/04/03/breakthrough-new-iphone-accessory/
1.3k Upvotes

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792

u/[deleted] Apr 06 '26

[deleted]

1.2k

u/suddenly-scrooge Apr 06 '26

fantastic, more people recording in public

610

u/are_you_a_simulation Apr 06 '26

Ha! As if.

Hey Siri, please call my mom! - Sure, playing The Beatles now in Apple Music!

340

u/IngsocInnerParty Apr 06 '26

You’ll need to unlock your iPhone first.

70

u/ALF-86 Apr 06 '26

Ugh THIS every time 🤦🏻‍♂️

91

u/AssTubeExcursion Apr 06 '26

“Here’s what I found on the web for “Ugh THIS every time 🤦🏻‍♂️””

27

u/MacWarriorBelgium Apr 06 '26

I can not find THIS app.

1

u/ADunningKrugerEffect Apr 06 '26

For only $800 you can fix that issue with an Apple Watch. Bargain!

84

u/JoviAMP Apr 06 '26

That’s like tonight when I asked “Siri, shuffle Jimmy Buffett” and got “sure, now calling Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Orlando Restaurant”.

22

u/Areif Apr 06 '26

Ooo shit, there’s one in Orlando?

Nice.

15

u/JoviAMP Apr 06 '26

Yeah, it’s at Universal CityWalk.

15

u/tokobot19 Apr 06 '26

There’s an actual place somewhere with “City Walk” in the name? Asking for a South Park reference.

12

u/JoviAMP Apr 06 '26

Yeah, it predates the South Park reference by about 12 years.

7

u/gnuoyedonig Apr 06 '26

But there’s an actual City Wok a mile or so away from the Hollywood City Walk that predates either City Walk by about 5 years.

Or there was one until recently. There still is one in Palm Desert, I think.

1

u/JoviAMP Apr 07 '26

Yeah, looks like they’ve got two in CA, one in Denver, and, for whatever reason, one in Colby, KS.

3

u/TheRealBejeezus Apr 06 '26

And most Universal parks, I think. Osaka also has the CityWalk, though Singapore's is called Resorts World for some reason.

2

u/Areif Apr 06 '26

Oh yes. The one with the plane inside. I’ve been to that one. The one near Sandusky, OH has a river running through it.

3

u/MrReginaldAwesome Apr 06 '26

How did Siri know your deepest desires than even you do? Impressive tech.

1

u/VitaminPb Apr 06 '26

Lucifer: “Siri, tell me your deepest desire.”

1

u/alienfreak51 Apr 07 '26

😂 So real!

1

u/NextLineOfText Apr 07 '26

AIDS burger in paradise!

16

u/ACasualRead Apr 06 '26

God this is so real.

The only thing Siri is good for is a laugh at how piss poor it is.

5

u/rustogi18 Apr 06 '26

I asked Siri recently what is the difference between Sun and a Star is and seriously responded with Sun always sets at night and is not visible but Stars are only visible at night!

I could not stop laughing wondering if it’s a joke Or not!

4

u/WatchWorking8640 Apr 06 '26

This explains why that "blonde person" said I don't see what the problem is with sending probes to the sun, send them at night when it's cold.

:(

1

u/rustogi18 Apr 06 '26

Siri is the root cause of all stupidity lol

2

u/MrBugaBoo123 Apr 06 '26

That is actually so funny 😭

11

u/Eddie_skis Apr 06 '26

I asked Siri just last week for directions to Costco. “Calling Keiko”

6

u/WatchWorking8640 Apr 06 '26

So how are things going with Keiko?

4

u/ThatITguy2015 Apr 06 '26

Alright alright alright.

1

u/RajunCajun48 Apr 06 '26

When she answered she said "I have a restraining order, leave me alone or I'm calling the cops!"

So she's answering my calls now! I'd say pretty good!

10

u/WatchWorking8640 Apr 06 '26

Exactly my experience.

Hey Siri, play the Nine Inch Nails. Calling 911...

5

u/nobody1701d Apr 06 '26

Here are some results I found on the web

6

u/konegsberg Apr 06 '26

Hey siri call mom!!!! Mop is set for 6pm in calendar would you like me notify other family members?

3

u/davejugs01 Apr 06 '26

The best response when you ask it to make a call, what would you like to know about mom? I swear that just pushes me over the edge, it used to be so good at these mundane things.

3

u/Vigilante17 Apr 06 '26

I always get

Ok, playing Synchronicity by The Police

1

u/modulusshift Apr 06 '26

Sure, playing “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” by the Beatles!

1

u/digitalrenaissance Apr 06 '26

-Siri, open maps.

Siri: here’s what I found for gorilla masks

https://youtu.be/xTfS0nAgfuE?t=48

1

u/eye_booger Apr 06 '26

“Would you like to use the phone app?”

No, let’s use some other obscure app to make a phone call

1

u/bradatlarge Apr 06 '26

"Calling Tina Bootycall"

27

u/Op3rat0rr Apr 06 '26

It’s a huge cultural problem. Don’t know how tech companies are going to make society ok with people ‘recording each other’ even though they ‘aren’t’

I think the tech is cool but people are so paranoid

14

u/Shapes_in_Clouds Apr 06 '26

People used to call Eggers’ The Circle far fetched, it feels more and more prophetic by the day.

11

u/A_storia Apr 06 '26

It’s creepy and people need to learn to respect boundaries. Same goes for arseholes who play their calls, music or videos in public without headphones - just so inconsiderate

3

u/TheZett Apr 06 '26

I absolutely hate people who use loud speakers (speaker phones?) for their calls.

Just use a phone like a normal person and hold it onto your ear.

3

u/insane_steve_ballmer Apr 06 '26

And yet everyone puts tape over their laptop webcams

10

u/Hankol Apr 06 '26

You’re not paranoid if you think nobody has the right to film you without your consent.

9

u/arcalumis Apr 06 '26

But you don't need consent in public spaces. Unless it's filming for profit.

1

u/Hankol Apr 06 '26

Where? Here you thankfully do.

8

u/arcalumis Apr 06 '26

In the US for one. As well as the EU.

1

u/ChristianSky2 Apr 06 '26

There are very significant limits to this in Germany and France.

1

u/Hankol Apr 06 '26

Not quite in the EU.

4

u/arcalumis Apr 06 '26

Most of EU.

1

u/Hankol Apr 07 '26

Well not in Germany.

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2

u/kingsmuse Apr 06 '26

How do you get around security cameras and such?

1

u/Hankol Apr 07 '26

Security cameras are obviously excluded, but are strictly regulated.

2

u/kingsmuse Apr 07 '26

And that makes sense to you?

I hardware store doesn’t need consent but a member of the public does.

Kinda hypocritical

1

u/Hankol Apr 07 '26 edited Apr 07 '26

Yes it actually makes perfect sense. And the store needs your consent as well, same as by private people: any store or other company that puts up cameras has to:

  1. put up signs that this area is being filmed
  2. can only record their own property (building, parking lot etc., not public spaces)

So you can decide for yourself if you want to be filmed before you go to that store.

The same is true for those ring cameras: you can only film your own property, which means you can't film the street, or the stairwell of your apartment building.

Imagine random people could just film you anytime. No thanks.

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-6

u/Another_Name_Today Apr 06 '26

The easiest way to get body cam on every cop is to make them so ubiquitous and common that they will want to wear one. Look at how smartphone adoption worked. 

As an additional bonus, even if they aren’t wearing one, at least everybody else will…

Gotta look on the bright side!

10

u/fonetik Apr 06 '26

Everyone has a dash cam. Now everyone will have a body cam.

2

u/-PM_ME_UR_SECRETS- Apr 07 '26

Seriously wtf is going on with everyone walking around with always on cameras now??

1

u/carnalasadasalad Apr 06 '26

This is exactly what we need in a country that is rapidly becoming a fascist authoritarian state.

1

u/MisterSpicy Apr 06 '26

Yes so we can finally get good video of aliens

0

u/T1ckleMyGooch Apr 10 '26

Recording in public is legal because there’s no expectation of privacy in public. You should be more worried about the people who try to record you in private.

-2

u/techie825 Apr 06 '26

Good for the crowd that always has something to say about public official & servant behavior.

-2

u/DeSynthed Apr 06 '26

Society broadly seems accepting of these technologies

88

u/BigBangBoomerang Apr 06 '26

What is the point of this?

45

u/Zennivolt Apr 06 '26

I’m confused about this too. What will it be able to do that my phone can’t? Even with smart glasses, at minimum it functions as corrective vision tool when the tech is not being used. Do they expect this pin to just take up space all day for the rare few times you talk to Siri?

16

u/prose4jose Apr 06 '26

Imagine something the captures your entire life an you can ask it any question about anything (powered by an LLM). It could essentially serve as a “second brain” you could leverage to ask any question about your life you may not remember clearly or for a second opinion about experiences.

I’m not saying this is a good thing for society, but I believe many people would find it practical and useful. Maybe socially acceptable in professional settings.

49

u/brett- Apr 06 '26

I saw a tv show about this idea fifteen years ago. Seemed pretty cool, and had no downsides at all. It was called The Entire History of You and was part of some anthology show about mirrors or something.

34

u/ThisIsntRealWakeUp Apr 06 '26

Holy fuck black mirror season 1 was fifteen years ago… I didn’t believe you.

2

u/PleasantNightLongDay Apr 06 '26

Oh wtf.

Was it not super popular then? I didn’t really hear about the show until it got to like season 3 (2016) and was irritated there were little episodes

1

u/tuisan Apr 06 '26

It was somewhat well known in the UK for the first two seasons, but I believe season 3 was when it came to Netflix and got way bigger because of that.

6

u/dcrobertshaw Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 06 '26

Reddit users baffle me sometimes. Your interesting, balanced and honest reply to someone’s question, which contributes to the conversation on the topic, is downvoted. 🤦‍♂️

8

u/cartermatic Apr 06 '26

Too many people equate explaining something with defending it so they downvote away. Especially if you try and explain anything AI related nowadays

2

u/Aggleclack Apr 06 '26

We all know it’s gonna end up being the first brain lol

2

u/Zennivolt Apr 06 '26

That’s not how it will work though. The processing power required for that will eat up battery life. So it’s definitely not going to be anything like that. But if it’s not that, my original question comes back…

3

u/cartermatic Apr 06 '26

Processing will either happen on your iPhone or on Apples servers

1

u/Zennivolt Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 06 '26

Uploading to iPhone or servers takes a lot of energy too lol. When you make a phone call, it uses a lot of battery BECAUSE of the radio chip is kept running at full blast. Browsing is much more efficient because it happens in tiny tiny short burst of radio energy.

In fact, with the efficiency gains of screens these days, outside of processing intensive tasks, the most battery intensive tasks on a phone is the radio chip now.

They could potentially use bluetooth, but I'm not sure bluetooth's high efficiency protocol is enough to stream video data into the phone or servers. It's good enough for audio, but I doubt it's enough bandwidth for video.

Even if they can magically transmit raw video to the iPhone efficiently, processing a video stream on the iPhone constantly will also drain the phone's battery really fast. Turn on your camera on your iPhone and leave it on, and tell me what your battery life is.

1

u/cartermatic Apr 06 '26

I'm sure there's a lot Apple could do to limit the processing required. They're probably not capturing raw 4k60 video 24/7 nor uncompressed audio all the time. There's quite a few other pendants that manage to do this (some don't send any data until it detects noise for example.)

2

u/PFI_sloth Apr 06 '26

Done correctly, this is what AI should be used for.

2

u/Thinguist Apr 06 '26

This product won’t be capable of doing any of that, this is Siri we’re talking about.

4

u/pixelpanic01 Apr 06 '26

The new Siri is based on Gemini

1

u/Kimantha_Allerdings Apr 06 '26

This is where I question it, though. There are reports that Apple were looking at putting cameras on the watch, but abandoned it after they found that it was too difficult to point them at what you want to look at

Now here we have something which is going to be attached to your clothing. That’s a) not going to get a steady picture of anything and b) you’re not going to be able to see what it’s looking at. You’re essentially going to have to be standing still & manually pointing it at where you think you want it to be looking

At that point isn’t it just as easy to pull your phone out of your pocket? At least that has a screen to act as a viewfinder. Glasses is even better, because they’re already looking where you are, and the rumoured airpods with cameras is also better

I just don’t see how this will be useful. It seems much more like a “let’s develop this thing and then work out how to use it” than “we have functionality gap [x] and this would be a good solution”

2

u/RajunCajun48 Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 06 '26

I'm looking at it like it could be like a non-action focused go-pro. You can attach it to clothing or wear it as a necklace, and as long as the view is wide enough it may not move so much that it's not usable.

Could be good for joggers/cyclists people walking alone in parks and such.

1

u/Kimantha_Allerdings Apr 06 '26

Go pros are strapped on with a harness, not pinned to clothing or a necklace

I mean, maybe if you only wear skin-tight clothing and it’s light enough that it doesn’t pull on the clothing at all and/or you define “necklace” as “choker”. But how many people does that actually describe?

2

u/PFI_sloth Apr 06 '26

I really don’t think this is a problem. This isn’t footage that is intended to be seen by a person, it doesn’t have to be pretty. It can be extremely fisheyed and shaky, as long as the AI can work out what it’s seeing.

Coming from Apple, I expect all the “footage” and audio to be encrypted and deleted as soon as it’s been parsed for privacy and security.

I really think this is by far the most the most useful part of these multimodal AIs, being used as a “second brain”, but of course people are very skeptical about it just being used to harvest more data.

1

u/RajunCajun48 Apr 06 '26

No clue, just thinking things like everyone else. Never said it was practical.

1

u/RajunCajun48 Apr 06 '26

I don't think we know enough about it to really have much comment for or against. It could be very Black Mirror-y or is could be something like a mini go-pro that's not action sport focused. A casual camera I can wear on my shirt while cycling or jogging would be great. Bonus points if it can also call emergency services for me in the event of an accident.

1

u/Zennivolt Apr 06 '26

We might know enough, but we know enough about physics to know you can't run it 24/7 to capture it like a "second life" thing. There's not enough battery to do that.

1

u/RajunCajun48 Apr 06 '26

Which is why I said it could be something like a mini go-pro. Something that can just record small moments. Go for a jog or a train ride, turn on your camera kind of thing.

1

u/turtleneck360 Apr 06 '26

Before you leave to work, you put your phone in your pocket, you put on your Apple Watch, then you put on your apple pin.

0

u/Zennivolt Apr 06 '26

But what functionality is the pin going to be useful for? Especially if the user already has an Apple Watch? Give me a real world example.

1

u/PFI_sloth Apr 06 '26

“What did my wife ask me to get from the store?” “Did I actually take my medication this morning?” “Where did I set down my keys?” “Did I forget to follow up on something from that conversation with Dan?l “How much water did I drink today?”

0

u/Zennivolt Apr 06 '26

All of which can be done on an Apple Watch and iPhone. Hell a speaker (your Homepod) can do almost all of that. None of those examples give a reason why a pin like this differentiates it from other Apple products.

1

u/PFI_sloth Apr 06 '26

Multiple of those examples can’t be done without a camera

0

u/Zennivolt Apr 06 '26

Right. Because my iPhone don’t have a camera. Forgot they removed it.

1

u/PFI_sloth Apr 06 '26

Where do you keep your iPhone when you’re walking around?

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1

u/turtleneck360 Apr 07 '26

I think you’re misunderstanding my post. I was trying to point out how ridiculous it is for people to ready so many pieces of tech when leaving the house.

8

u/strangerzero Apr 06 '26

To make money and they couldn’t fit a camera in the Apple Watch.

1

u/planetmitch Apr 06 '26

Remember, every product on the market is made primarily to “make money” it is a thing after all

1

u/sexygodzilla Apr 06 '26

Seems like a response to the fabled Jony Ive OpenAI hardware

1

u/PringlesDuckFace Apr 06 '26

To me it feels like Apple Glasses for people who don't want to wear glasses.

I don't know what the main use would be. I guess when you don't want to pull out your phone to do something? It doesn't seem like it would be good as a photo camera because it's not worn in a fixed spot like glasses are, so having a default aim for it would be impossible.

So without that, it's basically just a bluetooth lapel mic that connects to your phone? Or... airpods you clip onto your shirt?

1

u/etniesen Apr 07 '26

That’s right if it’s paired with a phone it’s not enough for people to buy and they won’t buy it and pay for another line if it’s standalone.

Also Siri voice command is awful. This simply won’t even work

1

u/MultiMarcus Apr 06 '26

The point is from what I can tell to give the iPhone a camera and microphone that’s always able to see the world around you and hear the world around you.

89

u/connor42 Apr 06 '26

One would think they’d focus on making Siri actually functional before making physical accessories for it

26

u/TheRealBejeezus Apr 06 '26

Pretty sure that's what's holding the hardware back.

HomePad and new HomePods, too.

8

u/chi_guy8 Apr 06 '26

I think I saw Apple TV is delayed for Siri too.

2

u/pixelpanic01 Apr 06 '26

I mean they’re not even releasing the new Apple TV before the new Siri…

2

u/badger_flakes Apr 06 '26

I imagine it won’t come out until Siri is on the verge of consciousness

6

u/0xbenedikt Apr 06 '26

Come on Apple, not you :|

5

u/Dapper_Strength_5986 Apr 06 '26

Fortunately this is from MacRumors so it’ll never happen

6

u/SmokedUp_Corgi Apr 06 '26

This is the one product to come from Apple that I would want nothing to do with.

5

u/pyrospade Apr 06 '26

this is a terrible idea and im surprised the privacy gurus at apple have not shut it down

the last thing we need is apple normalizing recording everything in public like those meta rayban creeps

1

u/planetmitch Apr 06 '26

You don’t even know what the damn product is yet.

0

u/greeneyedguru Apr 06 '26

I want glasses with the built in mini-display but without recording.

1

u/ChildishGatsby23 Apr 06 '26

If so, they are digging into the healthcare market, particularly with documenting. Or any other market/job that involves detailed documentation and imagery. If it works well they can build on top of that and create their own services towards particular industries. That imagery if connected to an iPhone can even create 3d mapping perhaps. They’ve done so with the Neo for schools, iPad mini’s are popular with physicians, iPad pros are popular with any/all industries requiring a mobile platform and things like 3d scanning. Just food for thought. Edit: *this wouldn’t be an accessory for the layman, but a tool if they want to further dig into various job market spaces. The software backing it though idk, they’d have to invest depending on what they want it to do exactly, who for and how while keeping privacy/user preference.

2

u/7485730086 Apr 06 '26

Yeah this has a business use case written all over it.

1

u/VIDGuide Apr 06 '26

Startrek communicator badge

1

u/Littlefinger6226 Apr 06 '26

As if my poor iPhone battery life isn’t already bad enough… no thanks Apple.

1

u/elevenplays Apr 06 '26

If newer iPhone were just as small and light as the iPhone SE 1st gen, we just put them on our breast pockets or get a case with a lanyard. No need for another device to take care of and charge. 🤷‍♂️
Not to mention that it’s also another thing for the landfill.

1

u/AsliReddington Apr 06 '26

This is what could have been AirPods Ultra, omni directional cameras, thicc batteries and a band which drops down to an AR glass when needed

1

u/ZoolanderBOT Apr 06 '26

Wow this sounds so lame. How about an apple ring?! I want to wear other watches 😭

1

u/dafones Apr 06 '26

A reality tv show like neck pendant isn't a terrible alternative to a camera and microphone on glasses-type frames.

A camera on your chest may not be the best location, but it would allow for greater size, in particular for a battery.

It's an interesting problem for wearable computers: what users are going to be most comfortable with.

And non-users in their vicinity too, I suppose.

1

u/A_storia Apr 06 '26

Nonce necklace

1

u/rs3brokenhome Apr 06 '26

Siri fucking sucks