Apple's AI glasses are on their way, but they won't be what you expect.

      Digital Trends

      Apple is reportedly speeding up the development of its upcoming wearable: AI-enhanced smart glasses aimed at directly competing with Meta’s Ray-Bans. As stated by Bloomberg, the company based in Cupertino is planning a launch for late 2026 and has started preparing large-scale prototypes for production.

      This new information expands upon previous reports from our publication, which suggested Apple would introduce its smart glasses alongside custom chips inspired by the Apple Watch architecture. At that time, sources indicated that chip production would commence in summer 2026. However, Bloomberg has now confirmed that Apple intends to begin producing considerable quantities of the smart glasses — not just their components — by the end of 2025, indicating a more ambitious timeline than initially anticipated.

      While Apple’s advanced AR glasses remain a few years away, this new initiative, codenamed N401, will provide real-world context to Siri in a sleeker design compared to a headset. Imagine them as “Vision Light”: Smart glasses equipped with cameras, speakers, and microphones that can handle live translations, calls, and turn-by-turn navigation. Unlike the Vision Pro headset, these glasses will not include augmented reality displays but will rely on audio and voice feedback to simplify the design, minimize costs, and reduce weight. This aligns with earlier reports indicating Apple is working on both an AR version and a non-AR version, with N401 clearly falling into the latter category.

      Apple’s glasses are part of a larger strategy to remain competitive in the rapidly evolving AI-enabled device market. Meta and Google are already established players, and OpenAI’s recent hardware partnership with Jony Ive is expected to make the market even more crowded.

      It is also essential to point out that this latest report does not mention any specialized chips previously referenced, such as Glennie for AirPods and Nevis for Apple Watch, but reiterates that Apple is encountering difficulties in integrating camera and sensor data into a lightweight design. The idea of offloading processing tasks to the iPhone, mentioned in earlier reports, remains relevant as Apple works to strike a balance between performance and energy efficiency.

      What about Apple’s other wearable experiments?

      Not all concepts are moving forward. Reports indicate that Apple has halted work on a smartwatch incorporating an integrated camera and real-world analysis capabilities. This device was meant to offer environmental sensing features on the wrist but has been abandoned due to technical challenges and privacy issues.

      Internally, the smart glasses project is reportedly facing some of the same AI limitations that Apple has encountered elsewhere. While Meta’s Ray-Bans benefit from Llama, and Android XR glasses utilize Google’s Gemini, Apple has so far depended on third-party AI resources like OpenAI and Google Lens for visual processing on the iPhone. Analysts anticipate that Apple will unveil its proprietary models soon, possibly alongside the new smart glasses.

      If everything proceeds as planned, Apple’s AI glasses will represent the company’s first significant venture into AI-driven wearables and are expected to transform how we engage with daily life. Whether they can outperform Meta remains uncertain, but Apple is determined not to remain on the sidelines.

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