Apple Smart Glasses Launching in 2026

[MacRumors]

Apple is planning to launch a set of smart glasses by the end of 2026, reports Bloomberg. The glasses will be comparable to the Meta Ray-Bans and the Android XR glasses that Google showed off earlier this week.

Apple's smart glasses are expected to include cameras, microphones, and AI capabilities, much like the Meta Ray-Bans. The glasses will be able to take photos, record video, provide translations, give turn-by-turn directions, play music, facilitate phone calls, offer feedback on what the wearer is seeing, and answer queries, but there won't be augmented reality capabilities included. Siri will be a key part of the glasses experience, with Apple planning to improve the personal assistant ahead of when the product launches.

With Apple targeting a late 2026 launch, work on the smart glasses has ramped up. Apple plans to produce "large quantities" of prototypes by the end of this year, giving the company time to test before mass production and a public unveiling.

According to Bloomberg, an Apple employee said that the glasses are similar to Meta's glasses, "but better made." The Meta Ray-Bans use Meta Llama and Google Gemini, but Apple will rely on its own AI models.

Apple's longtime goal has been a pair of lightweight augmented reality glasses, and the smart glasses that it is working on for 2026 will serve as a stepping stone. True augmented reality glasses are still years away as components like chips and batteries need to come down in price and size.

Article Link: Apple Smart Glasses Launching in 2026

 

[MacUserFella]

Heh, I’m gonna take this to school

 

[Minato1990]

I talk alot of trash about Apple due to its **** ups(MOSTLY AI)
But I will definitely get these especially with Apple being big on privacy. Hence why I never took the Facebook glasses.
Zuckerberg is a total creep.

 

[MacTwick]

I'll see it when I believe it

 

[jz0309]

it's from Gurman, so must be true ...
/s

 

[DotCom2]

I usually don't buy first gen anything, but this is rather intriguing to me.

 

[pugxiwawa]

RIP Vision Pro

 

[BelgianChoklit]

This is going to canibalize Vision Pro sales. The 4 people who got one will wish they'd have waited for these.

 

[IceCool]

This is actually great news. Hopefully it’s also an indicator that Apple is confident enough to reel in its AI after that launch disaster.

Only time will tell.

 

[svish]

Will be very surprised if Apple is able to release it next year. Waiting to see the glasses. Hopefully Siri and Apple Intelligence will improve by then.

 

[HazeAndHahmahneez]

Massive. I thought these got canned (if even temporarily)…

This is just massive. Video recording will be so much more convenient when spending time with family/ friends …no way spatial vids/pics now, right? and in a few decades this product merges with Vision Pro.

No AR but it’s a step in the right direction and that video taking alone makes em almost must-have if you have little ones…

 

[lewisd25]

It’s going to be a bigger bomb than the Vision Pro.

 

[JTK Awesome]

Just like that, huh? Tim Cook snaps his fingers and has a competitor for Android XR? Was AVP just a brilliant red herring to make Google jump first?

 

[McScooby]

Apple doesn't do comparable, the only thing it'll be comparable to is a bog standard pair of glasses.

 

[sw1tcher]

Apple's smart glasses are expected to include cameras, microphones, and AI capabilities, much like the Meta Ray-Bans. The glasses will be able to take photos, record video, provide translations, give turn-by-turn directions, play music, facilitate phone calls, offer feedback on what the wearer is seeing, and answer queries...

Guess you'll be needing AirPods for some functions for better audio quality and unless you want everyone around you to be able to listen in on your music, conversations, and other activities.

 

[211]

Sounds like Apple is rushing this now, because of competition from everyone. Considering that’s what they did with Apple Intelligence, that’s not a good sign

 

[tornadowrangler]

Pretty much all of this can be done on people watches or phones. Until smart glasses can do things can't be done on a watch or phone - and people become reliant on them for those things - very few people are going to want to put them on their face as anything more than a party trick.

 

[TechRunner]

but Apple will rely on its own AI models.

And they were so close...

 

[DocMultimedia]

A rumor that doesn't say it will happen in 2027? I can't believe it. 🤣

The endless question is how will this work for people that wear prescription glasses. There are a lot of us.

 

[Falco McGregor]

Massive. I thought these got canned (if even temporarily)…

This is just massive. Video recording will be so much more convenient when spending time with family/ friends …no way spatial vids/pics now, right? and in a few decades this product merges with Vision Pro.

No AR but it’s a step in the right direction and that video taking alone makes em almost must-have if you have little ones…

Gurman had a report out a week ago claiming Cook was adamant a pair of smart glasses from Apple make it to market in 2026/early 2027. They clearly know they have to step it up. Even if the fundamentals of the company remain strong, Apple operates on cultural cache and this has been a rough year for them in tech media and among vocal power users on social media.

 

[Falco McGregor]

Pretty much all of this can be done on people watches or phones. Until smart glasses can do things can't be done on a watch or phone - and people become reliant on them for those things - very few people are going to want to put them on their face as anything more than a party trick.

They could build on their partnership with Zeiss on Vision Pro, though this is clearly going to ship in quantities greater than that.

 

[antiprotest]

If it comes at all, it will likely come as pair of glasses with no OS in it. Apple will promise to release it later in the year, then it won't come. And then when it comes, it will have a bare OS with no additional features, which Apple will promise to come later, and then it won't come.

So the timeline will be 1. Glasses with no function (2026-2046), then 2. OS (2027-2047), and 3. Actual features that make the glasses meaningful (2028-2048).

But before all that, Tim Cook might retire, in which case the glasses will come fully loaded in 3 months.

 

[Cameront9]

If they can make it have a small screen and display live captions on it then I will absolutely buy it.

 

[iamgalt]

So apple is getting into the data collecting game as blatantly as FB and Google? We'll see if Apple Intelligence is up for it by then.

 

[JPack]

Apple swung and missed with Vision Pro, but these glasses should have a much better chance of success.

Nobody wants to wear scuba goggles in public. Eyeglasses are socially acceptable.