Apple is reportedly developing prototypes of a display-free fitness tracker built around a thin fabric strap and a sensor module that sits directly against the wrist. The device would focus on continuous heart-rate and other health monitoring, with data feeding into Apple’s Health ecosystem rather than appearing on a smartwatch display.
The concept would move Apple closer to the Whoop model: a wearable that collects health data around the clock while a phone handles the main interface. Unlike an Apple Watch, the band would not have a screen, notifications or the wider set of wrist-computer functions associated with a smartwatch.
Bloomberg reports that Apple has not decided whether the device will become a commercial product. If the project receives approval, it would not debut before 2028.
Apple would enter a segment that is already attracting established wearable brands:
- Google has launched the Fitbit Air.
- Garmin offers the CIRQA Smart Band.
- Huawei is also exploring the screenless fitness-band category.
The reported work follows the Apple Watch Series 12, which added more intensive heart-rate tracking alongside Readiness and Health Age features. Those additions place greater emphasis on recovery, sleep and daily physical readiness—areas long central to Whoop and Oura.
The project is said to have internal support from Tim Cook and Eddy Cue, who has taken responsibility for Apple’s health division. That backing does not make a launch certain: the tracker remains in an exploratory stage and could still change substantially or be abandoned before any possible 2028 release.
