Mobile World Congress was held this week in Barcelona and we understand if it passed you by. While Apple and the iPhone are on everyone’s mind, MWC is primarily an Android show. But there are still some announcements that will get Apple fans a little jealous. Here are five of them that caught our eye—and we hope Apple is paying attention too.
Galaxy Ring
As if Samsung was reading the rumor blogs, right after reports emerged that Apple had explored the development of a smart ring, new details emerged of the upcoming Galaxy Ring, which reportedly won’t work with iPhones. We don’t know much about it other than it’ll track most health metrics that a smartwatch does—sleep, heart rate, fertility, etc.—and last about a week between charges. Just as importantly, it’s the first smart ring from a major smartphone company and looks great in pictures, so consider our interest piqued by the prospect of an Apple Ring.
Mattas Inghe
Gemini in Google Messages
We’re still waiting for Apple to unveil its first true generative AI feature—which should be coming at WWDC—but Google has been moving at a fast pace with its own Gemini chatbot. Despite some early issues with image creation, Gemini continues to add new tools to its arsenal. The latest announced at MWC: You can chat with Gemini right in the Google Messages app. We don’t know what Apple has planned for Gen AI in iOS 18, but something similar in iMessage would be fun.
OnePlus Watch 2
Apple Watch is the king of smartwatches, but there’s still one area where we’d like to see a big boost: battery life. So we’re a little jealous of the OnePlus Watch 2, which claims 100 hours of battery life with light use and about half that with heavy use. Testers have been able to go two to three days with normal use. Meanwhile, the Apple Watch Series 9 is still stuck at around a day and a half.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Honor Magic 6 Pro
Among the oodles of new tech introduced with Vision Pro is next-level eye-tracking tech for navigating without flailing your hands all over the place. Honor also has new eye-tracking tech, but it’s not in a headset, it’s in the company’s new Magic 6 Pro phone. Called Assistive eye-gaze control, it will expand notifications banners and launch apps when it detects that you’re looking at them for longer than normal. Since it’ll be a while before everyone can afford a Vision Pro, we wouldn’t mind eye-tracking on the iPhone 16.
Lenovo ThinkBook Transparent Display Laptop
Some day we’ll be wearing a Vision Pro that’s as thin and clear as a pair of glasses. Some day we’ll be using iPhones and iPads that are little more than thin sheets of glass. Lenovo wants that future to be now. The company unveiled its 17.3-inch Micro-LED transparent display at MWC, with “a completely borderless and see-through display experience.” It’s one of the coolest things we’ve ever seen—and we’re sure hoping Apple has something similar deep in its labs.
Lenovo
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor
Michael Simon has been covering Apple since the iPod was the iWalk. His obsession with technology goes back to his first PC—the IBM Thinkpad with the lift-up keyboard for swapping out the drive. He's still waiting for that to come back in style tbh.