Apple Glasses

My colleague Filipe Espósito yesterday said that the prototype Meta Orion glasses are what he wants for the future of Apple Vision, and I agree that they are an incredible step in the right direction.

I’ve long said that an Apple Glasses product is what I really want to see, but as impressed as I am by what Meta has shown us, I still think it will be a few years before any of us will be wearing a pair of Apple Glasses …

Replacing the iPhone might seem a strange goal for Apple; it’s been the most successful product the company has ever made, and one of the most successful premium products any company has ever made. But it’s been reported that this is the company’s long-term goal.

Specifically, Apple execs were said to believe back in 2019 that an Apple Glasses product would replace the iPhone in roughly a decade …

When I tried Ray-Ban Meta glasses last week, I described the AI features as largely a gimmick at this point, but still making me feel excited for a future Apple Glasses product.

Several commenters noted that the glasses do somewhat better when given follow-up questions, and I tried out this feature on another walk, to reveal a mix of hits and misses. But what’s really missing at present is integration …

While an expensive, bulky Vision Pro headset undoubtedly has its place for some, Apple’s longer-term goal is believed to be a product dubbed Apple Glasses: bringing AR capabilities into something with a similar form-factor and weight to conventional eyeglasses or sunglasses.

Squeezing that much tech into a much smaller device is, of course, a huge challenge – but researchers at Stanford’s Computational Imaging Lab may have come up with at least part of the solution …

Mark Gurman’s latest Power On newsletter suggests that Apple isn’t expected to launch a new Vision Pro (or Vision something) model until the end of 2026.

That follows another report last week, suggesting that demand for the spatial computer is far lower than Apple expected …

Apple and Meta won’t just be competing with their VR headsets – they are also likely to be gearing up for a later battle between Apple Glasses and Meta Glasses.

While both devices are believed to be years from launch, a new report today says that we’ll get a sneak peek at Meta Glasses later this year …

Vision Pro isn’t large enough to accommodate eyeglasses, so wearers will need prescription lens inserts instead. But that might not always be the case: A new Apple patent describes a way to electrically adjust the displays to suit your vision.

The system Apple describes is done dynamically, so it can effectively match a different prescription for each eye, and also allow switching the same device between multiple users with different prescriptions …

Mark Gurman’s latest newsletter says that Apple remains concerned about the Vision Pro’s weight and is working on making the next generation of the headset lighter.

Gurman also describes the difficulties the company is facing in dealing with the prescription lenses that will be needed for many customers …

A newly-granted patent published today for an Apple Glasses Digital Crown design clearly shows a device very much along the lines of what we’re eventually expecting to see, as the company moves its AR wearables ambitions beyond bulky headsets.

The illustration shows how a Digital Crown could be used to cycle through different overlays available on the glasses, ranging from video content to weather data …

While Vision Pro is getting all the headlines at the moment, it’s likely that a future Apple Glasses device will be the one to turn wearable AR into a mass-market product. Apple was set to face competition from a product codenamed Google Iris, but a new report says that the search giant has now abandoned work on the device.

Project Iris was first reported some 18 months ago, and unlike the ill-fated Google Glass product, it did seem to be something people might actually be happy to wear …

A new report on the upcoming Apple Reality Pro AR/VR headset says that the device is significantly compromised, compared to the company’s original vision for the device.

It also says that some top Apple execs are skeptical about the potential of the product and are distancing themselves from it. The report – based on multiple sources close to the project – said that Apple will be selling it almost at cost, in contrast to the high margins it expects from other products …

I know, I know: I’m comparing Humane’s unreleased product with another that hasn’t even been officially confirmed to be in the works. But another way of asking the question is: What, if anything, will ever replace the iPhone?

Apple reportedly believes that it will be some form of augmented reality device, likely the long-rumored Apple Glasses – while two former Apple execs have demonstrated their own vision for a smartphone replacement: a device which has been widely compared to a Star Trek comm badge …

An unlikely report from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests that the Apple Glasses launch could come as early as 2026 or 2027.

While the emphasis of the report is that Apple Glasses won’t be mass-produced before these dates, the idea that the product could be just three or four years out seems implausible based on what we’re expecting …

Apple was wrong about the potential of augmented reality headsets and glasses, says CEO Tim Cook, adding that Steve Jobs taught him to be willing to admit mistakes.

The rest of the lengthy GQ profile and interview covers familiar ground, and Cook’s usual talking points …

After years of speculation, Apple’s Reality Pro headset is expected to debut at WWDC in June. But an Apple Glasses launch is likely still years away, and the Xiaomi Wireless AR Smart Glasses have just given us a very good understanding of the reason for this.

While the role expected to be performed by Apple Glasses is technically achievable today, we’re nowhere near the kind of form factor we’d expect from an Apple product …

A couple of reports earlier this week made two claims about Apple’s VR/AR plans. One, that the company is trying to trim the cost of a second-generation Apple Headset. Two, that work on Apple Glasses has been put on hold.

The first claim is almost certainly correct; the second, almost certainly wrong …

Apple Glasses Accessibility features could see the long-rumored devices make a huge difference to the lives of those with disabilities.

The point was made by Colin Hughes, the disability campaigner who recently shared the ways in which Apple tech allows him to live a more independent life despite almost no use of his limbs …

The Meta Quest Pro headset is set to launch next month, and it’s believed to have many features in common with the upcoming Apple headset expected to be launched early next year. We already knew the name, and it now appears we know what both the device and its packaging look like, thanks to a careless employee.

A sample of the headset, its controllers, and retail packaging were left in a hotel room, bringing back memories of the time an Apple engineer left an iPhone 4 prototype in a bar …

While people are hyped up about the Apple September event, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman is back with more information regarding the upcoming Mixed Reality headset. Gurman doesn’t expect any announcement this week about this new product category, but his Power On newsletter is full of new information about Apple’s plans.

Apple continues to file and win patents regarding its upcoming augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) headset, dubbed Apple Glasses. The company has won multiple patents today, relating to the use of gloves to detect skin-to-skin contact in AR/VR.

Apple is likely to enter a new product category with headsets in the near future. So far, there are two rumored products: the AR headset and the Mixed Reality headset, usually called AR/VR headset or “Apple Glasses.” With rumors gaining traction about these products, here’s what we know so far about each of them.