Apple smart glasses may rival Meta Ray Bans sooner than a cheaper Vision Pro
The company is rumored to be shifting resources to get a competitor to Meta's smart glasses on the market
✋ Apple has reportedly delayed its cheaper Vision Air headset
👓 The company is said to be shifting its focus to smart glasses
🤺 It wants to compete directly with Meta’s AI-packed Ray-Bans
👨💼 Rumor has it that CEO Tim Cook “cares about nothing else” other than smart glasses internally
Apple is making a huge internal shift to get its first pair of smart glasses on the market. The company has halted development of a cheaper version of the Apple Vision Pro to shift its resources and accelerate development of a proper alternative to Meta Ray-Bans, according to a report from Bloomberg. This comes as previous reports revealed that CEO Tim Cook “cares about nothing else” other than getting a pair of glasses to market.
✌️ Two pairs of Apple smart glasses are on the way
Bloomberg says that Apple is working on two different pairs of glasses. One will lack a display and launch sometime in 2027, while the other will have a screen and launch in 2028. Both will lean on speakers, microphones, and cameras for functionality, as well as AI, which has been a pain point for Apple as it struggles to get its revamped Siri experience out the door. The glasses will rely on voice commands for operability.
The shift in resources from the cheaper “Vision Air” headset will allow Apple to develop the glasses faster. That being said, the company is already considered late to the game; Meta and Ray-Ban have sold over two million units of its first pair of glasses, and it just recently launched the Meta Ray-Ban Display to rave reviews from early testers.
It’s unclear what technologies Apple will include to help its glasses stand out, but if there’s one thing you can count on, it’s a larger tie-in with the company’s ecosystem. This could be reason enough to skip Meta’s glasses for many users, although we’ll have to see what Apple can cook up before making any judgments.
The upcoming Apple smart glasses will also reportedly feature a brand-new chip, health-tracking tools, and ship in a variety of styles. It’s unclear how much they could cost. The Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses cost $799, but Apple could easily charge a premium. We’ll have to wait and see.
Max Buondonno is an editor at The Shortcut. He’s been reporting on the latest consumer technology since 2015, with his work featured on CNN Underscored, ZDNET, How-To Geek, XDA, TheStreet, and more. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop and Instagram @LegendaryScoop.