Apple Explores Smart Glasses Development, Echoing Meta's Ray-Ban Design

Apple's future smart glasses could look like Meta's Ray-Bans

If you've been looking to buy a pair of smart glasses but have trouble choosing between Meta's Ray-Bans and Amazon's Echo Frames, Apple may be throwing its own pair into the mix. The Silicon Valley giant could be developing smart glasses that are similar to the former brand. Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman wrote in his latest PowerOn newsletter Apple's standalone smart glasses would be infused with AI, cameras, microphones and premium audio features -- much like the Ray-Ban smart glasses by the parent company of Instagram and WhatsApp. The glasses would also be lightweight and heavily integrated with the iPhone, allowing users to wear them all day. Recommended Videos However, according to Gurman, it would take three to five years for Apple to develop its own smart glasses and bring it to the wearables market. Even so, the company is exploring ways to make it a reality. Please enable Javascript to view this content Apple continuing its discussion of the development of its smart glasses comes amid the commercial failure of the Apple Vision Pro headset, with consumers citing its hefty $3,500 price tag, discomfort, and failure to live up to expectations of making waves in the AR/VR space. The company also tried developing AR glasses that would compete with the Ray-Ban smart glasses, but that got scrapped because the device failed evaluations, and the development team kept moving goalposts for it reach its full potential. If Apple does charge ahead in making the smart glasses that take on the appearance of Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses complete with Apple accessories and cosmetics, we may not see them until 203o.

Apple Still Exploring Smart Glasses Similar to Meta's Ray-Bans

Apple is still discussing the possibility of making smart glasses similar to Meta's popular Ray-Ban glasses, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says that such a product wouldn't be a proper augmented reality device like Apple Vision Pro, but it would include AI, microphones, and cameras to create a "pretty good user experience." "If Apple can bring its design prowess, offer AirPods-level audio quality and tightly integrate the glasses with the iPhone, I think the company would have a smash hit," reckons Gurman. "It's mind-boggling that Apple hasn't gotten there yet." Apple initially wanted to create smart glasses that looked like regular glasses and had augmented reality capabilities, but Apple stopped development on the project earlier this year. Originally, Apple wanted the glasses to connect to the iPhone, but the iPhone didn't have the power or battery life to support them. Apple then transitioned to using the Mac as a power source, but Apple executives weren't convinced a Mac-connected device was a good solution, leading to the shutdown of the project. Gurman has previously reported that Apple is conducting user studies at its offices to gauge the appeal of features and interfaces, and that the company is working on a version of visionOS that will run on glasses. Codenamed "Atlas," the studies are being led by Apple's Product Systems Quality team, part of the hardware engineering division. Apple's rationale seems to be that creating smart glasses could provide a stepping stone to developing true AR glasses, aka Apple Glass. There have been rumors about Apple's work on AR glasses for almost 10 years now, and the Vision Pro headset is what Apple built because the technology doesn't yet exist for the kind of augmented reality glasses that Apple is aiming for. Meanwhile, Apple is still "actively developing" a product that would combine AirPods with cameras, according to Gurman. The cameras would help power AI features by gathering information on the surrounding environment, similar to the Visual Intelligence feature on supporting iPhone models.