Apple’s Biggest Smart Glass Rumors Are Disappointing
Last week, I rounded up all the rumors about the Meta smart glasses , but Zuckerberg won’t be going into the future alone. Ray-Ban’s Meta smart glasses may be the first widely available smart glasses, but they’re unlikely to be the last, especially if Apple releases a competitor. It’s widely believed that Apple is preparing to make its own giant contribution to the smart glasses industry, but we don’t know for sure. So here are the top rumors about the smart glasses that Apple is (supposedly) cooking up. If you’re expecting news about a device as amazing as the iPhone, you’ll be disappointed.
Apple Plans to Release AI Smart Glasses in 2026 or 2027
Apple is hard at work developing Apple’s yet-to-be-named smart glasses, according to an unnamed Apple employee who spoke to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The source said Apple plans to release the product in 2026 or 2027, and that it will focus on artificial intelligence and audio rather than augmented or mixed reality. According to the article’s description of the glasses, they will have similar features to the Meta smart glasses. They will have a camera and microphone, so you can take photos, make calls, and listen to music. You will also be able to communicate with an improved version of Siri, an artificial intelligence designed to compete with ChatGPT. The source said Apple’s glasses will be “better made” than the Meta glasses, and the company is said to be developing a new chip for the powerful but lightweight glasses. Apple is supposedly rolling out prototypes for testing as I write this.
Apple has stopped developing Mac-connected augmented reality smart glasses
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple was developing smart glasses designed to work with Mac computers, but ultimately killed the project.
The report detailed the major hurdles that would need to be overcome before AR glasses would be useful: Standalone AR smart glasses that met Apple’s standards would need to have the performance of an iPhone but use one-tenth the power. In other words, the battery would be too heavy and the chip would get too hot for smart glasses. The company then pitched glasses that would be powered by an iPhone, but phones wouldn’t have the battery life either. The final design for these theoretical smart glasses was a wearable device powered by a Mac computer, but Apple executives rejected that plan, ending the project.
Apple has been working on augmented reality for a long time, and advances in augmented reality (AR) glasses can be seen in the Apple Vision Pro headset. Apple is apparently waiting to return to the idea of AR smart glasses, as at the moment the only way to achieve the level of performance Apple wants is with a larger device. Speaking of…
Apple is developing a new version of the Apple Vision Pro
The last of Mark Gurman’s three Apple rumors is that Apple is planning to release the second generation of its Apple Vision Pro VR headset between fall 2025 and spring 2026. The new Vision Pro is rumored to be powered by Apple’s new M5 chip and will be significantly more powerful than the first-generation Apple Vision Pro. The new version is expected to be similar to the first line of Apple Vision Pro headsets.
Taken together, these three rumors suggest that Apple isn’t banking on the kind of big changes or revolutionary products the company is known for. Instead of developing anything new, the company is focused on improving and supporting its core product, the iPhone, as well as creating better versions of existing devices like Apple’s smart glasses and the Vision Pro. So for now, expect Apple’s innovations to come in small batches.