According to insiders, Apple is developing a screenless health fitness tracker that resembles the Whoop strap, as part of its rethinking of the smartwatch product line and the addition of new wearable categories. The company has been exploring this for several months and has entered the prototyping phase, with support from senior management, but has not yet decided whether to mass-produce it.

The prototype consists of a thin fabric strap with a sensor-equipped computing module, without a screen, to differentiate it from the display-centric Apple Watch. The project is still in what is internally referred to as the "technical research" phase; if it progresses, it will not be available until after 2028. Apple declined to comment. Following the news, Garmin's stock fell by as much as 2.5% during trading, while Apple’s stock rose about 1% by midday.

The project has the support of Tim Cook and Eddy Cue, the head of services. Cue took over the health team after Jeff Williams left in October last year and is pushing for a simplified interface that aligns with Whoop and Oura—focusing on continuous health and training rather than notifications and apps on the watch. The Watch Series 12 has already incorporated continuous heart rate capabilities that competitors have, and added metrics like readiness and biological age; a new interface for the Health app is also being tested in iOS 27.2.

Whoop has entered the market with a screenless design, long battery life, and recovery and load monitoring, with the 5.0 series lasting over 14 days, and also offers a medical-grade MG with ECG. The Oura ring has taken a different screenless approach, selling about 3.6 million units in the 12 months ending June 30 and preparing for an IPO. The Apple Watch still serves broader functions, with the next major redesign of the watch expected no earlier than late 2027, while plans are in place to first launch wearable AI glasses and camera-equipped AirPods.

Market dynamics indicate this is a category supplement rather than an immediate product launch: the buyers are users who do not want to wear a watch all day but need continuous health data; the seller is Apple, using its Health ecosystem to create a second entry point below the Watch. Funding has not yet formed for device sales, with the initial impact on the expected discount of stocks like Garmin. The beneficiaries are Apple, which has already integrated readiness scores into its watch software; the pressured parties are Whoop, which relies on subscriptions, and Garmin, which differentiates itself with professional sports watches. The event is driven by the shift in wearable competition from "a screen" to "can it be worn 24 hours a day."

A screenless design prioritizes battery life and wear time over notifications; if realized, Apple would sell both a watch that needs charging and a strap that users would ideally not take off, with data still flowing into the same health account.

Source: Public information