82 Macworld • April 2020FEATURE
a product, I think there are important things to
be gleaned from the choices Apple made in their
design – the kind of design choices that may lend
insight into the way Apple is thinking about the
wearables market.
Wearables, of course, was the market that was
sharply up in the company’s most recent quarterly
results, and thus is clearly a place that Apple is
likely to be focusing some attention in the future.
And with rumours of Apple’s AR goggles/glasses
starting to coalesce around later this year, the
AirPods Pro might key us into how Apple is thinking
about entering the still nascent (or perhaps non-
existent) market for augmented reality headsets.Holistic Area Network
As I walked up the street the other day, listening
to music on the AirPods Pro, they alerted me
that my iPhone was ringing. Without breaking my
stride, I glanced at my Apple Watch, saw it was
from an unknown number, and tapped the button to
dismiss the call. All without pulling out my iPhone.
It’s not the first time I’ve thought of Apple’s
wearable devices as part of a ‘personal area
network’, but the reality really hit home in that
moment: a wrist-mounted display and sensor
package in the form of the Apple Watch marries
strikingly with the AirPods Pro, which deliver
not only audio for entertainment purposes, but
notifications as well.
An augmented reality heads-up display would
seem to enhance this even further, helping