Apple’s AI Push Sets Stage for Everything From Glasses to Robots

Future devices will be designed to better use voice control and serve up information just when customers need it, rather than forcing people to stare at a display filled with apps, as AI is meant to handle tasks for you, rather than forcing you to visit apps.

To date, Apple’s devices have followed a playbook: Feature high-quality hardware and software, plus services like the App Store and iCloud.

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Apple will need to shift from the hardware-software-services approach and become a hardware-AI-cloud company. The upcoming iPhone 16 line will be a step in that direction as every version of the phone will support the entirety of Apple’s new AI feature suite.

But that’s just the start. Looking forward, AI will enable potentially game-changing hardware, including home robotics, augmented reality glasses, and AirPods with intelligence and cameras. You’ll also see a class of new services like an AI-powered health coach and sensors for monitoring body temperature and glucose.

Here’s what Apple will announce on Monday at the Word Wide Developer Conference (WWDC). Apple’s biggest event of the year takes place at 10 a.m. Pacific time Monday.

Apple’s overseas launch of the Vision Pro.

The Vision Pro still faces plenty of challenges in becoming a mainstream device as it’s more of a proof of concept for developers than a consumer product. The best scenario is that this device lays the groundwork for something with more appeal, such as $1,500 augmented reality glasses. If that happens, then the Vision Pro will have been more than worthwhile for Apple.

Apple is gearing up for a launch following next week’s WWDC, with the Vision Pro heading to Australia, France, Japan, Singapore, Canada, the UK, Germany, China, Japan and South Korea.

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Old Apple TVs cannot support Netflix anymore.

The Apple TV system only got an App Store in 2015, but Netflix was available for the platform’s older set-top boxes going back many years. The earlier Netflix software was a bespoke version without an App Store-like updating process. Now, Netflix has grown tired of managing both apps, so it’s telling owners of the second- and third-generation Apple TVs that Netflix will stop working on their devices at the end of July.

The affected models are the 720p Apple TV box introduced by Steve Jobs in 2010 and the 1080p follow-up model from 2012.

Dexcom’s G7 continuous glucose monitor can now pair directly to Apple Watch

Dexcom, one of the top makers of glucose monitors in the US, has added direct Apple Watch connectivity for its G7 model in the US. That means that people who have the G7 can access live glucose data on their Apple Watch via Dexcom’s new app without syncing with an iPhone. The change will be helpful for Apple Watch users who sometimes like to leave their phone behind, such as on a walk.

This is a critical market as millions of people globally need to constantly monitor their blood sugar. Dexcom’s system still requires a prick of the skin, but there are efforts underway at Apple, Samsung Electronics Co. and other technology companies to develop monitors that don’t need a blood draw. A couple of years ago, Apple reached some key milestones in its project, leading the company to believe it can eventually bring noninvasive glucose monitoring to the Apple Watch.

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