Apple seems to be exploring making smart glasses, and reportedly could ship a product in 2027.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Apple sent an email to "select employees" asking them to participate in a user study with "current market smart glasses", which likely includes the Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Apple runs this kind of focus group to figure out what's good about existing products and where it could add unique value, to decide whether to go ahead with product development.
Apple is "considering" launching a Ray-Ban Meta glasses competitor in 2027, Gurman reported, including the ability to understand the environment around it.
David Heaney
This news comes a month after The Information's Sylvia Varnham O'Regan reported that Samsung is working with Google on a Ray-Ban Meta glasses competitor of their own, powered by its Gemini AI.
Previously it was believed that full augmented reality (AR) capabilities would be needed for compelling smart glasses, but delivering that in a compelling way at a reasonable cost is still a long way off. Apple reportedly “indefinitely” postponed plans for true AR glasses last year, and Google killed its AR glasses project too.
The unexpected success of Ray-Ban Meta glasses amid the rapid advancement of large language models has demonstrated that far simpler glasses with audio and cameras could be a successful product category, though, and perhaps the ideal form factor for the newly enhanced AI assistants that Apple, Meta, and Google want to stay with you throughout your daily life.
