Apple Planning Smart Glasses and AirPods With Cameras for 2027

[jlc1978]

As a teacher, having the glasses know every student in class and prompting the name for me, to aid in learning all the names alone would make it worth it..

Your comment is already possible with Meta's glass. A couple of students created a facial recognition setup with Meta's glasses. Not just names, but a lot of information about the individual by accessing public data. Given the availability of information, correct and incorrect, via simple searches, this means, as the tech becomes cheap, there no longer is a concept of privacy.

While your use certainly is good, imagine if someone was falsely accused of a crime?

It also becomes a more personal version of license plate readers, where data could voluntarily be fed to law enforcement; or a GooglePerson version of Google Maps. That could help locate missing persons, or a slacker track their victim.

 

[Marbles1]

Glasses will do it. If they look cool or just normal, they’ll sell.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Your comment is already possible with Meta's glass. A couple of students created a facial recognition setup with Meta's glasses. Not just names, but a lot of information about the individual by accessing public data. Given the availability of information, correct and incorrect, via simple searches, this means, as the tech becomes cheap, there no longer is a concept of privacy.

While your use certainly is good, imagine if someone was falsely accused of a crime?

It also becomes a more personal version of license plate readers, where data could voluntarily be fed to law enforcement; or a GooglePerson version of Google Maps. That could help locate missing persons, or a slacker track their victim.

Not touching anything Meta...as I don't trust them.

Apple privacy record is better.

(Not saying Apple is ALL-good and Meta is ALL-bad, but I prefer Apple... )

 

[iZac]

Perhaps soon we'll have airPods cases with cameras and screens and we can just replace our iPhone with them instead.

 

[DrJR]

Must be fun to be Mark.

Make up any old Tutt and say its a few years away with no repercussions or people picking him up on when its total fantasy.

Cameras in AirPods? really?
Has he thought about this Nostradamus level prediction?
How does this work for people with long hair? Those cameras are going to have a great view.
Privacy? Apple's main thing is privacy. Cameras in AirPods that you can wear to the gym and have on in the changing rooms/showers? Really?

This is one of the 'Gurman grains of salt' predictions that we get a lot of.

Just to be quarrelsome I'll say "hair? no way you can see through a window with a screen in it". I bet they are forward facing. To privacy I say "no way some kind of AI will be able to auto filter people out in the future, you never take your phone or ipad to the locker room or restroom with you???" I kind of like the camera in airpods idea.

 

[Arran]

according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Interesting article.

To me, the big takeaway isn’t glasses. It’s that Apple is getting serious about the smart home.

About time. Like the iphone and the iPod, the mass market’s already there. Apple just has to do it better than the competition. (And frankly, they have to do it a lot better than they have been doing it so far.)

 

[DELLsFan]

Whenever I hear smart glasses the first thing I remember Google Glass which was released to the public in 2014, not to mention the lighthearted nick name wearers of Google's smart glasses received.

You and I appear to be the only one who remembers how Google was the first to do this and fail spectacularly. Not because of the branding and nicknames, though. Privacy Karens were everywhere doom-saying the demise of civilization as we know it. I mean, how dare you look at me and take my picture or record me without my permission? Privacy seems to have meant more to people 10 years ago.

Not so much today. Today many could care less if you're looking at them, taking pictures, or recording in this Instagram, TikTok era. This is evident at every crime scene, accident, or riot. Instead of maybe helping victims, people help themselves by whipping out smart phones so they can upload to social media and get 1000 followers or worse - sell their video and pictures to media outlets.

 

[_apple_apple_]

I follow the patents and there is one Apple AR Glasses patent that's a little neat but also worrisome. Basically, the AirPods are small enough that carrying its case around is fine, since it safely stores the AirPods and provides extra charge. Several patents indicate that Apple will do the same for the Glasses but a bit differently: a traditionally sized glasses case that can also charge multiple devices on its lid, but also a clip-on where you fold up the glasses, slide it onto the clip-on (patent shows it hanging from shirt neckline), and it provides some extra charge.

The clip-on's very existence seemingly proves that the glasses will not have all-day battery life, and an admission that carrying the large case around will be unpopular. This further indicates that the glasses are presumably already at some kind of bulkiness limit with this part-day battery. Glasses can be pretty bulky and still be aesthetically appealing, so clearly they could not add more bulk for more battery volume without it either looking ridiculous or becoming too hot or too heavy. A recurring theme in the patents is heat dissipation challenges and weight reduction challenges.

I'm expecting the Apple Glasses to be larger/heavier than average glasses like Apple Watch is to an average digital watch.

 

[citysnaps]

Apple will do AR right with glasses, and will be hugely successful. And they'll be available sooner than 2027.

I think many here don't understand the difference between AR and VR, and their many uses/applications.

 

[citysnaps]

Whenever I hear smart glasses the first thing I remember Google Glass which was released to the public in 2014, not to mention the lighthearted nick name wearers of Google's smart glasses received.

My recollection about Google Glass was there were no real AR applications they addressed. Yes, you could take photos surreptitiously, access the internet/web. But that was about all.

 

[Performa6220CD]

Use them nearly every day and they keep adding functionality. I love that Apple is taking chances with the Vision. Nobody is asking for another color variant of a home pod mini. Give us the future.

On that point of the future — what companies have the level of software and hardware knowledge and capabilities as well as R&D dollars to build product like the Vision Pro? Only one. The e-waste bound Meta stuff does not play in this league — the Vision is an actual computer.

It’s fun to fantasize about smooshing it all into a pair of feather light frames but it’s just not going to be a thing anytime soon. If it were that easy someone would have done it by now. This is the current best high technology that exists for this.

The killer app? That’s going to be integration of mulitmodal AI that can recognize surroundings + audio + motion and enrich the environment with useful information given that added context. Apple Intelligence / ChatGPT integration. The Vision has an M2 chip and 16gb of ram which should allow for onboard inference with an LLM. The specs https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro/specs/

 

[stocklen]

Just to be quarrelsome I'll say "hair? no way you can see through a window with a screen in it". I bet they are forward facing. To privacy I say "no way some kind of AI will be able to auto filter people out in the future, you never take your phone or ipad to the locker room or restroom with you???" I kind of like the camera in airpods idea.

Just for fun lets remember that some technology we cant envisage so to say this or that cant be real is true today but who knows.

However, again for fun you think AirPods or other in ear buds could have a forward facing camera? Love to see how silly those look - also the 'hair' point remains - someone with long hair blocks both side and forward facing cameras its all the same.

And yes, iPhone into a restroom is a social, and in many cases, legal taboo. You don't take a phone into the showers and start filming people - phones in locker rooms are very much supposed to be left in bags for this very concern. Adding a camera to another device be it glasses, headphones, a watch or a pin or a ring.... the Principal will apply to ALL of them into the future.

 

[StuBeck]

I'm all for Gurman's product rumors, but I can't stand his Apple commentary of late.

In this particular newsletter, he first writes:

"Apple blew billions on a car project that it shut down earlier this year, and the company’s Vision Pro hasn’t yet proved that a face-worn technology can be a hit."

But then later in the same newsletter goes on to say:

"The company has a stable base of revenue, at nearly $400 billion a year, but Apple can’t coast forever."

Well which one is it, Mark?

Its the second one.

They can blow billions on stuff we don't want, but the core issue they need is ensure that customers don't see their future products as failures. If people still see magic behind Apple products, they'll continue to buy Apple products despite what the competition may be offering with either "better" features, or less expensive prices. If they have a string of products like the Vision Pro, then they could have a problem.

We are still far away from this being a problem for them though.

 

[JOLoughlin]

If you had a choice between Meta branded cameras on your face in public or Apple’s, which would people choose?

 

[Night Spring]

AirPods will have IR cameras, not RGB. Kao talked about this months ago. Will allow in-air gestures.

How will that work for someone with long hair? Do IR cameras need a clear line of sight to your hands to detect gestures, or can they "see" through hair?

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

It took them this long to make an AR headset that resembles ski goggles, so how they getting to glasses in 2 years?

Typical Gurman.

 

[nt5672]

If Apple wants to stem my move away from Apple devices, then maybe they should just make a music player that works well and manages my music without screwing everything up every other release cycle, or maybe a mail program that does not skip applying rules randomly, or even fix the networking so that it does not drop my hard drives randomly. Or maybe they could fix the numerous firewall and VPN issues.

With all of the issue going unresolved, it is of little consequence that Apple claims to have better privacy. They make so many mistakes these days that I don't believe their actual privacy protections are any where near their statements in their marketing propaganda.

But in the end a half baked vision device, or a half baked speaker, or half baked AI is not going to do it. Neither is more forced walled garden.

 

[jlc1978]

Not touching anything Meta...as I don't trust them.

Apple privacy record is better.

(Not saying Apple is ALL-good and Meta is ALL-bad, but I prefer Apple... )

Although I get your point, it's not a question of privacy records. Once the glasses can capture an image and you can send that image to a program, the company loses all control of privacy. The individual now controls how the image is use, saved, distributed, etc.

You and I appear to be the only one who remembers how Google was the first to do this and fail spectacularly. Not because of the branding and nicknames, though. Privacy Karens were everywhere doom-saying the demise of civilization as we know it. I mean, how dare you look at me and take my picture or record me without my permission? Privacy seems to have meant more to people 10 years ago.

While the same surveillance/recognition capability exists today with phones, glasses will allow it to be less obvious. Someone holing a phone and filming is pretty recognizable, while with glasses you may never notice and be able to move away. It's not a question of permission, but of capability.

It also has interesting legal implications, for example how do privacy laws and data protection laws apply in situations like this, where you are simply aggregating publicly information?

Not so much today. Today many could care less if you're looking at them, taking pictures, or recording in this Instagram, TikTok era. This is evident at every crime scene, accident, or riot. Instead of maybe helping victims, people help themselves by whipping out smart phones so they can upload to social media and get 1000 followers or worse - sell their video and pictures to media outlets.

This won't change that behavior, just make it less noticable. As with any tech, it could be used for good or evil purposes. It could help find someone who was in danger, such as an Alzheimer's patient who wandered away, or for doxing someone who expressed an opinion someone didn't like. You no longer need to be recognized by someone who knows you, the machine can identify you based on data available to it.

 

[coffeemilktea]

considering launching smart glasses comparable to Meta's Ray-Ban collaboration.

No love for the OG smartglasses, the Snapchat Spectacles? 🤓

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Although I get your point, it's not a question of privacy records. Once the glasses can capture an image and you can send that image to a program, the company loses all control of privacy. The individual now controls how the image is use, saved, distributed, etc.

Sure. I'm thinking of the initial photo taken.

As long as it's in my (iCloud) Photos, I'm fairly sure it's not going to end up in some form of profiling and/or commercial use.

With stuff saved in Meta apps (or Google, for that matter), I'm not so sure...

 

[gmarm]

Honestly, I just really really home they make something like this: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...uses-ar-glasses-instead-of-a-display.2428161/.

 

[fantasyname_qwertz]

Its probably easier to get full AR/VR before they can manage to get rid of the notch(TM).

 

[cicalinarrot]

IR Cameras for gesture control.

why would that be your first idea?

I don't like writing "it's a joke" after jokes.

 

[klasma]

AirPods will have IR cameras, not RGB. Kao talked about this months ago. Will allow in-air gestures.

I read “in-ear gestures” at first.

 

[HazeAndHahmahneez]

If you had a choice between Meta branded cameras on your face in public or Apple’s, which would people choose?

Sadly, I think for the vast majority of people the only Ral concern is cost not privacy.