Apple Is Reportedly Developing AI Smart Glasses to Compete with Meta and Google

Key Points

• Apple is developing AI smart glasses for a late 2026 release, with bulk prototype orders set to begin soon.
• The glasses will include cameras, microphones, speakers and run on a custom powerful chip to handle Siri voice commands for music, navigation and calls.
• CEO Tim Cook is prioritizing development of AR glasses that overlay data on the real world and aims to beat Meta to market.
• Apple enters a crowded field dominated by Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses—which sold two million pairs—and Google’s $150 million Warby Parker partnership launching next year.

Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses have been an unexpected success, selling two million pairs since launching in late 2023, with Meta planning to produce 10 million a year by the end of 2026. Now Apple is preparing to enter the smart glasses market with a product of its own.

Bloomberg reported on Thursday that Apple engineers are working on a new pair of smart glasses that could be released at the end of next year. Prototypes are expected to be ordered (in bulk) soon for testing. Apple is also reportedly working on a powerful chip for the glasses that could differentiate them from the competition in sheer processing power.

Related: Google Is Making AI 'Intelligent Eyewear' With Warby Parker After Eyeing Meta's Ray-Ban Success

The glasses are expected to have cameras, microphones, speakers, and a connection to a voice assistant for verbal commands. They will be compatible with music playback, directions, and phone calls. Like the Ray-Bans, which use Meta AI to process voice commands, Siri will handle requests on Apple glasses.

With a fresh pair of smart glasses, Apple is looking to capture the AI devices market, which is set to become more crowded next year. OpenAI, the company behind popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, announced earlier this week that it was collaborating with former Apple designer Jony Ive on AI gadgets to be released beginning next year. On Wednesday, OpenAI stated that it was furthering the collaboration by acquiring Ive's AI hardware startup, io, for $6.5 billion.

Related: Amazon Wants to Deliver Packages Faster With Secret Smart Glasses. Here's How.

Last fall, Bloomberg reported that Apple was running multiple focus groups to find out what its employees liked about smart glasses from competitors.

Apple's ultimate goal is reportedly to develop a pair of augmented reality (AR) glasses, which would overlay the real world with data and images. A source told Bloomberg that Apple CEO Tim Cook is intent on making a pair of AR glasses before Meta can, and that AR glasses are "the only thing" Cook is "really spending his time on from a product development standpoint."

News leaked in April that Meta was looking into making its first smartphone-alternative AI glasses with an embedded screen to compete with Apple's iPhone.

Google Is Also Making Smart Glasses

Google announced earlier this week at its I/O conference that it was committing $150 million to create AI glasses in partnership with Warby Parker. The glasses, which include AI features like voice commands sent to Google's Gemini AI assistant, are expected to launch next year.

In a live demonstration, the glasses could send text messages, answer questions about objects in the external world, and translate from one language to another in real-time.

Related: Meta Is Reportedly Working on Smart Glasses With a Screen — at a Price Point $1,000 More Than Its Ray-Bans