Apple smart‑glasses rumors grow
Leaks and social reports claim Apple is developing four styles of AI-powered smart glasses, including Wayfarer-style frames offered in multiple sizes and colours. The posts suggested Apple plans a product family to compete in consumer smart-glasses formats. (x.com/coinbureau/status/2043769941925740611)
Apple is testing at least four smart-glasses designs, according to a new Bloomberg report, as it pushes toward a lighter wearable than Vision Pro. (bloomberg.com) TechCrunch, citing Bloomberg, reported on April 12 that Apple is evaluating two rectangular frames and two oval or circular options, plus several colors. The same report said the first model would not include a display. (techcrunch.com) MacRumors reported the glasses are being positioned closer to Meta’s Ray-Ban line than to augmented-reality eyewear, with cameras, microphones and speakers handling photos, calls, music and voice commands. Bloomberg said Apple is also weighing multiple sizes. (macrumors.com) Smart glasses are ordinary-looking frames with cameras, microphones and speakers built into the arms, so users can hear audio, take pictures and ask an assistant questions without pulling out a phone. Meta’s current Ray-Ban glasses start at $299 and offer photos, video, calls, texting and Meta artificial intelligence features. (meta.com) Apple’s shift is notable because its first head-worn product, Vision Pro, is a full headset that starts at $3,499 and covers the user’s eyes instead of looking like everyday eyewear. Bloomberg reported in 2024 that Vision Pro sales were running below 500,000 units for the year, far below mainstream consumer-electronics volumes. (apple.com) (bloomberg.com) The market Apple is chasing is no longer theoretical. EssilorLuxottica said in its 2025 results that it sold more than 7 million artificial-intelligence glasses that year, and CNBC reported those sales more than tripled from the prior period. (essilorluxottica.com) (cnbc.com) Apple’s software timing is part of the story. The glasses in Bloomberg’s report are tied to a more capable Siri, but Apple said on March 7, 2025 that the more personalized Siri features would take longer and arrive in the following year. (cnbc.com) Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote in June 2025 that Apple had several head-mounted products in development through 2028, including smart glasses, and said software would be the hardest part. That lines up with the current reporting: the frames may be the easy part, but the assistant still has to work. (mingchikuo.craft.me)
