Apple Smart Glasses: Everything We Know So Far

[Kottu]

Meta and Ray-Ban released their smart glasses almost two years ago, which puts them at least three years ahead of Apple—unless Apple can somehow shrink the Vision Pro into a regular pair of glasses. I believe Apple should focus on forward-looking innovations rather than trying to catch up with other companies.

It’s also a matter of choosing the right teams. They spent years developing an Apple Car, only to scrap the project. They even had a chance to acquire Tesla—had they done so, Apple could have been the largest EV manufacturer in the world today.

Of course, it’s always easier to speculate than to execute. But when I see new Chinese EV companies launching almost every month, I can’t help but wonder: what has Apple been doing with all its resources?

I read that Apple hesitated to invest in AI chips, which is part of why they’re falling behind in that area. Meanwhile, they spent two years just to change the voice command from “Hey Siri” to “Siri.” It really makes me question what the CFO and board members have been prioritizing.

 

[NeonNights]

I've been wearing contact lenses for 25 years. I like how I look with glasses but I hate how they feel. I don't want to need them for computing. I don't think spectacles will be a killer product like the iPhone was.

I'm the opposite and don't like contacts unless I'm playing sports. My Meta Ray Bans are still new so too early to tell but, at the moment, given the choice I would rather have my smartglasses than my smartwatch (even though my smartwatch has LTE and can do calls/messages without my phone).

*On second thought, my smartwatch allows me to leave my phone behind and the watch can also pay for things. It's really a toss-up. If my watch was the WiFi-only model then I'd rather have my smartglasses. My point being the smartglasses are already integrating into my daily life quite seamlessly. If the battery dies then the device just reverts to dumb glasses, which I still need to see clearly. I dont necessarily  need the smartglasses for computing as that job is more adequately handled by my myriad other devices, but the smartglasses are a welcomed accompaniment to my suite of tech gear.

 

[letsrollmonami]

Google and Meta made smart moves by teaming up with well-known eyewear brands like Ray-Ban to make their products more appealing. Glasses are much more personal than watches, and people care a lot about fit and style. Apple was able to define a new look with the Apple Watch and used partnerships to make it feel fashionable, but glasses might be a tougher challenge.

If Ray-Ban and Warby Parker are already spoken for, who could Apple team up with? Or will they try to design the glasses on their own, which could be a risky move?

I feel like Apple's in an existential moment in time right now given how people compute is being disrupted and they haven't had much to show for it yet.

 

[rcread]

I'm holding out for smart contact lenses.

 

[one more]

Apple should have started with this, instead of going their scuba-mask, aka AVP route.

 

[one more]

I'm holding out for smart contact lenses.

Those will have to use our body temperature to power them up, Matrix-style. 😋

 

[Piggie]

I genuinely wonder if the population not already using (vision correcting) glasses daily would want anything to do with this.

100% yes. without any doubt.

I may well take a while to get there, and the tech needs to be good enough.
But imagine a group of teenagers all hip and trendy, enjoying and sharing AR experiences, and other kids seeing them and wanting to be part of it also.
Then those teenagers grow up being fully used to AR mixed in with the world.

I will take time, but I can't imagine it not happening.

 

[GioGiusi]

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman notes that while such a product wouldn't be a proper augmented reality device like Apple Vision Pro, it would include AI capabilities, microphones, and cameras to create a "pretty good user experience."

Uh....what? Pretty sure you have that backwards. Vision Pro is not a "proper augmented reality device. It has latent, nausea-inducing fake video passthrough. That is not AR. That is simulated AR.

The entire purpose of the glasses is to deliver proper AR. Actual reality augmentation while through clear lens.

 

[Quicksilver867]

100% yes. without any doubt.

I may well take a while to get there, and the tech needs to be good enough.
But imagine a group of teenagers all hip and trendy, enjoying and sharing AR experiences, and other kids seeing them and wanting to be part of it also.
Then those teenagers grow up being fully used to AR mixed in with the world.

I will take time, but I can't imagine it not happening.

Yeah, we'll see. If it's seamless and doesn't require wearing anything ridiculous (a corded external control unit would be immediately uncool) then perhaps it has a chance.

 

[Piggie]

Yeah, we'll see. If it's seamless and doesn't require wearing anything ridiculous (a corded external control unit would be immediately uncool) then perhaps it has a chance.

To start with, I would personally be happy and accept that, you needed to keep a phone in your pocket/bag to do any of the more heavy tasks.
Like the early Apple watch did.
Whilst tech will always improve, having the phone do the heavy compute and the glasses then being lighter and lasting longer feels sensible.
That give you the cellular via the phone also.

Then in years to come, hopefully more and more of this can be shifted to be on-board to the glasses.

So right now... Personally... I'd be happy to compromise, and have much better glasses and have the phone either on me, or nearby, over having poor glasses that do very little and have little power.
(just a personal viewpoint)

 

[letsrollmonami]

Apple should have started with this, instead of going their scuba-mask, aka AVP route.

To be fair, the only reason we're here today with these AR smart glasses is because of the advancements in voice-based/multimodal AI. Prior to ChatGPT, if these were just Siri or Google or Alexa added to Raybans, it would not be that useful. AVPs were in development well in advance to that tech being available.

There were already video/photo taking glasses before – the game changer was having actual useful voice-activated and computer vision interpreting what what you were seeing. And that was really only possible with these LLMs and generative AI. Question is what is Apple's approach now...

 

[Rychiar]

I genuinely wonder if the population not already using (vision correcting) glasses daily would want anything to do with this.

I do. it's definitely less hassle using these things without needing some kinda vision correction on top of it.

 

[victorvictoria]

No matter how cool a pair of Buddy Holly glasses look on you, these headsets/glasses will never go mainstream as long as they require a battery pack hooked up by a wire. Apple should stop all this flailing and failing at new hardware and put their almost unlimited resources into next generation battery technology. Sure, the law of physics limits how much energy can be contained in a given space. but then the Fat Man A-bomb that destroyed Nagasaki contained only 13.7 pounds of Plutonium 239, and released the equivalent of 21 KILOTONS of TNT. that's WAY more energy than we're getting from today's batteries! We need the "Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor" from Back to the Future!

 

[radus]

Smart glasses are a very good idea and the apple ones will be great.
But where can we wear them without fearing being robbed?

 

[peterdev]

Google and Meta made smart moves by teaming up with well-known eyewear brands like Ray-Ban to make their products more appealing. Glasses are much more personal than watches, and people care a lot about fit and style. Apple was able to define a new look with the Apple Watch and used partnerships to make it feel fashionable, but glasses might be a tougher challenge.

If Ray-Ban and Warby Parker are already spoken for, who could Apple team up with? Or will they try to design the glasses on their own, which could be a risky move?

I feel like Apple's in an existential moment in time right now given how people compute is being disrupted and they haven't had much to show for it yet.

exactly, I love the wayfarer look, not crazy about how any of the other smart glasses look...

 

[bLackjackj]

Google 1/ Apple 0 - looking forward to Apple pretending Siri doesn't exist in 2 weeks. Apple went from being the innovator, to the follower,..who simply can't keep up 🤦‍♂️

 

[Graphate]

I genuinely wonder if the population not already using (vision correcting) glasses daily would want anything to do with this.

On behalf of the population: We do want something to do with this.

Glasses, perhaps, but Apple has a lot of catching up to do before anything they make can be called smart.

Assuming they fix Siri by 2035-2040, these glasses should be available by 2037-2042.

But by then other companies might already have neural and cybernetic implants.

I know what you mean, but I also think other things: many (all?) “smart” labeled things are not very ‘smart’; smart here would just mean ‘computerized’; and if they are already… “smart” and AI should not be synonymous.

All that aside, if Apple can do 1/4 (whatever that means) of what they did with AVP on glasses, they will be a near replacement for the Apple Watch… if we can replace the iPhone, then we’re cooking with fire.

 

[frownface]

Is this another case of trying to generate a demand ?

Apparently 2 million pairs of Meta raybans have been sold and meta plan to ramp that towards 10 million pairs a year.
So there's some sort of demand.

 

[JohnC1959]

Not sure if I'll be interested in the simpler smart glasses, but when they finally get true AR glasses that don't look dorky I'll be very interested

 

[Glavin]

"Hey, Siri, what am I lookin' at?"

"I found this on the web about Hey, Siri, what am I looking at?" Check it out!"

 

[applegeek2024]

after seeing failure that is vision pro and apple car, I can only say that apple has no idea .. ZERO

 

[kurtfoster]

Just one data point here, but I used my VSP for new prescription glasses, and sunglasses, earlier this year. Despite that, I still ordered a pair of Meta Ray Bans with prescription and transition lens because of the embedded speakers and smart features. I don't plan to use the camera that often, other than when necessary to ask Meta, "what is this (I'm looking at)?".

I received the Meta Ray Bans last night and had so much fun setting it up and testing the features. I then watched a movie before bed with the speakers as not to disturb my wife. In hindsight, I should've used my VSP on the smartglasses at the beginning of the year instead of regular glasses, but I hadn't considered smartglasses at the time. Now, I can't imagine going back to smart-less glasses and look forward to in-display smartglasses next time.

I am not aware of the term VSP. I assume it’s a variation on Apple Vision Pro, which is AVP, but I’m not 100% sure. Could someone tell me what that means? Thanks.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

I am not aware of the term VSP. I assume it’s a variation on Apple Vision Pro, which is AVP, but I’m not 100% sure. Could someone tell me what that means? Thanks.

It seems to stand for "Vision Service Plan". I'll let ChatGPT do the talking since it's faster:

“VSP” is not a generic term—it’s the acronym for a specific company: VSP Vision Care, formerly Vision Service Plan.

What VSP Is:

• VSP is the largest vision insurance provider in the United States.
• It operates as a private, not-for-profit company that partners with employers, insurance brokers, and eye care providers.
• They offer vision benefits plans that cover:
  
  • Eye exams
  • Prescription lenses
  • Frames
  • Contact lenses
  • Lens coatings (e.g., anti-glare, transitions)

 

[ijordano]

"Based on current information, we can expect Apple's smart glasses to potentially reach consumers around 2026-2027 at the earliest."

Be SO for real! We'll barely have an updated Vision by then let alone smart glasses, if these are coming I'd be they're 5 years off at the least

 

[Aeronauts]

I genuinely wonder if the population not already using (vision correcting) glasses daily would want anything to do with this.

I would consider using them as sunglasses with audio built in as I don’t like wearing in ear headphones.