Apple’s Smart Glasses Are Reportedly Still in Development, Despite Being Years Away

Apple is reportedly continuing to develop and work on its smart glasses device. In a latest report, the product under the guise of N50 is poised to leverage Apple Intelligence.

In the latest Power On newsletter from Mark Gurman, it’s said that the “device isn’t close to being ready yet.” However, despite these smart glasses still being a ways away from getting in consumer hands, we’re starting to get a better idea of Apple’s vision for them. According to Gurman, “the idea is to turn glasses into an Apple Intelligence device.”

It’s believed that the Apple smart glasses will be able to “analyze the surrounding environment and feed information to the wearer.” However, Gurman states that it won’t offer users any true augmented reality (AR) features. Gurman also emphasizes that the company is continuing to develop the camera-equipped AirPods that’ll offer the same benefits and features to users.

The crux of Apple’s development process for its smart glasses appears to fall on the desire to compete with Meta. For the last two years, Meta has been growing a foothold in the smart glasses industry with its partnership with Ray-Ban. The Meta Ray-Ban glasses offer users similar benefits as its able to analyze the surroundings and offer information to the user. This is all thanks to the use of Meta AI.

As Gurman claims, Apple will have to utilize Apple Intelligence features for its smart glasses to compete with Meta. One of the benefits Meta Ray-Ban offers is the ability to take photos and record videos to upload on social media. In the past, however, Gurman has stated that Apple may not go as far as allowing users to take photos or record with its smart glasses due to privacy concerns.

The timeline on when Apple smart glasses may release has constantly been in flux. However, the general consensus lands on the devices not releasing until 2027 at the earliest.