How Apple Could Try to Make Its Smart Glasses Less Scary
Apple is expected to unveil its smart glasses, codenamed N50, at WWDC 17 in June 2027, giving the company nearly a year to solve the biggest challenge facing smart glasses: how to ensure privacy while selling a product containing a hidden camera?
Like the Ray-Ban and Oakley eyewear line from industry leader Meta, Apple’s first smart glasses are expected to focus on artificial intelligence, audio, and built-in cameras (demonstration models will arrive later). However, Meta glasses have found themselves at the center of a growing cultural controversy over their camera feature, with people calling Meta ” pervert glasses ,” mounting guerrilla marketing campaigns against them, and banning their sale in a growing number of places .
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman , Apple is considering releasing smart glasses with a full-fledged camera system that won’t be used for photos or video. The camera system will only be used to transmit visual information to Apple’s AI tools, and users won’t be able to share this information.
Apple’s Commitment to Privacy
Privacy (whether respecting it or abusing it) is undoubtedly at the forefront of every smartglasses design decision, but for Apple, it’s a particularly challenging issue, given its carefully cultivated image as a company that prioritizes privacy above all else. For years, Apple has made data security a pillar of its identity, repeatedly declaring it a ” fundamental human right ” or emphasizing on-device data processing. Releasing glasses that many consider spyware could effectively undermine Apple’s reputation, even if all other privacy policies (no sharing of content with third parties, maximum on-device data processing, etc.) are as robust as possible.
This isn’t the first time Apple has found itself in a similar situation. When the company released AirTags in 2021, it implemented anti-tracking features such as alerts for unwanted trackers, audible alerts, and hidden tag detection tools—all aimed at preventing the device from being used for secret surveillance. But within months, the devices were implicated in stalking and domestic violence cases, leading to lawsuits , investigative journalism , and a general perception that AirTags are a tool for perverts. The lesson: good intentions and good design can’t counter people’s worst instincts.
According to consumer research, taking quick videos and photos is one of the main reasons people buy smart glasses: a February 2026 report from Counterpoint Research notes that improved video and photo shooting are the most frequently praised features of the second-generation Meta glasses. If consumers are faced with a choice between Meta glasses, upcoming Samsung/Google smart glasses , and Apple glasses, how many will choose the ones without a camera?
Other possible privacy solutions for smart glasses.
While I have no idea what other possible solutions to the privacy issue Apple is considering, if I had to guess, I’d say they’ve discussed the following ideas:
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Geofencing : Apple could proactively create geofencing or detection agreements with specific categories of spaces, such as courthouses, gyms, and schools, or allow users to select a “zone,” such as setting their iPhone to “no hidden cameras in my home/office.” Given the ban on camera-equipped glasses in certain locations, such as New York courthouses and parts of cruise ships , this seems a likely direction.
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Visible Status Indicator: Some of the criticism Meta has received for its camera glasses centers on the size of the tiny “I’m filming” indicator. What if it were larger, brighter, and more visible? I understand that this might satisfy some people who don’t wear or like smart glasses with cameras, but how many users would want to advertise that they wear smart glasses?
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Alert system for non-glasses wearers : There’s already an app that tries to alert users if Meta glasses are nearby ; Apple could take this idea and make it easier for anyone to track people wearing Apple glasses. It might even work as an advertisement, though again, I doubt people wearing glasses would appreciate being singled out in this way.
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It’s safe to say this will all blow over : Apple may decide that privacy isn’t all that important after all; this isn’t the first time the company has abandoned its core value to make more money. With Apple Glass still more than a year away from hitting store shelves, the company may simply be hoping for the best. Public opinion tends to become less alarming over time, as more people become accustomed to new technologies; when camera phones hit the market in the early 2000s, there was widespread panic about photography in gym locker rooms and schools, but today, it’s far less of a concern.