Apple, the manufacturer of the iPhone, is planning to launch smart glasses by the end of next year, Bloomberg reported on the 22nd, local time. Apple engineers are accelerating their development efforts to compete with Meta Platforms’ Ray-Ban smart glasses, and they plan to start mass-producing prototypes by the end of this year, aiming for a launch at the end of next year, according to sources. The smart glasses are expected to feature a camera, microphone, and speaker that can analyze the external world, with Apple’s voice assistant Siri recognizing and providing information to the user.
In addition to phone calls, the glasses are said to include music playback, real-time translation, and navigation functions. This is similar to the current smart glasses from Meta or those being developed by Google, which are based on the Android XR (Extended Reality) operating system. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Apple is developing a dedicated chip for smart glasses, planning to begin mass production as early as next year.
A source mentioned that while Apple’s smart glasses will be similar to Meta’s products, they will be more sophisticated. Bloomberg also reported that Apple’s ultimate goal is to release augmented reality (AR) glasses, which overlay digital content onto the real world, though this is expected to take several more years to commercialize. As Apple moves to formalize the launch of smart glasses, competition in the market is expected to intensify.
Meta has already released Ray-Ban smart glasses, which are gaining popularity. Meta plans to release a premium smart glass this year and, next year, its first glasses equipped with AR functions, Bloomberg reported. Google, during its annual developer conference on the 9th, officially announced that it is developing smart glasses in collaboration with Samsung and Korean company Gentle Monster, though it has not disclosed an official release schedule despite having showcased a prototype.
Furthermore, on the 21st, OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, announced that it plans to showcase hardware products next year in collaboration with Apple’s former chief designer Jony Ive, though it did not specify what the first hardware device would be. However, Apple’s smart glasses development team is reportedly concerned that their upcoming smart glasses might not succeed due to the performance of their AI, which falls significantly behind compared to Meta’s and Google’s AI platforms, Llama and Gemini, respectively.
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