Here's When to Expect Apple's Answer to Meta's Ray-Ban Smart Glasses

Apple is reportedly developing smart glasses that could compete with the Meta Ray-Bans, but they are not expected to launch for a few more years.

Meta Ray Ban Glasses
Earlier this week, Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that he expects Apple's smart glasses to enter mass production in the second quarter of 2027. Similar to the Meta Ray-Bans, he said that Apple's glasses will allow users to take photos, record videos, and listen to music, with both touch and hands-free voice control. These type of smart glasses are intended to let you capture a moment without needing to take your phone out of your pocket.

Kuo said that Apple plans to offer multiple frame and material options for its smart glasses, but he did not indicate if it will partner with a major glasses brand, such as Ray-Ban or Oakley. Meta's smart glasses are offered with three different Ray-Ban frames, including the iconic Wayfarer style that has been popular for decades.

Like the Meta Ray-Bans, Kuo said Apple's first glasses will not have built-in augmented reality displays. However, next-generation Meta Ray-Bans with such displays are expected to launch later this year, so Apple will remain well behind.

Meta's glasses are equipped with a 12-megapixel camera with 1080p video capture, dual speakers, five microphones, a touchpad on the right arm, and an LED that indicates when video recording is active. Meta says the glasses last up to four hours with a single charge, and up to 36 hours with a fully-charged carrying case.

Meta Ray-Bans were released in September 2023, with U.S. pricing starting at $299. In February, Ray-Ban owner EssilorLuxottica announced that it had sold more than two million pairs of the glasses, making them a relative hit in a growing device category.

For now, Apple's only head-mounted device is the Vision Pro, which starts at a hefty $3,499. It is estimated that Apple has sold only 500,000 to 700,000 units of the Vision Pro, at best, since it launched in February 2024. Kuo believes that Apple's smart glasses will be far more successful, with shipments reaching 3-5 million units or more in 2027.

The unfortunate part is that 2027 remains quite a while away, with Apple's competitors in this space innovating at a much faster pace.

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Top Rated Comments

txa1265 Avatar
2 weeks ago

Apple should have released something like this years ago. Instead they’re years away from releasing something like this.
Google's farcical 'Google Glass' crapware says otherwise.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coolfactor Avatar
2 weeks ago
Take your time, Apple. No rush. Get it right.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joe Rossignol Avatar
2 weeks ago

Take your time, Apple. No rush. Get it right.
This is the age-old saying with Apple. They're not always first, but they do it better. Except it's getting increasingly hard to believe in that lately. Apple Intelligence was not first or better.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tyranne201 Avatar
2 weeks ago
I hope everyone start banning theses glasses in restaurants, bathrooms and everything else.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tonester1984 Avatar
2 weeks ago
Apple wasted so much money and time on the Apple Car, a space they really had no reason to get into, IMO. They should of spent that time and money on AI and apparently more wearables.

However, I just see all this AI getting into everything and I can honestly say I don't want any of it and while I think AI and the potential for wearables and eventually even implantables are very cool and have some really great applications, I think the dangers of isolation, depression, manipulation, privacy intrusion, government and cooperate tracking; just to name a few, far outweigh the benefit.

I find myself increasingly wanting to get technology out of my life! I think 1998-2006 was the sweet spot of technology. Wish we could go back to the simplicity of that time, before everything had to be on the internet, but we still had great computers.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hieranonymous Avatar
2 weeks ago

Google's farcical 'Google Glass' crapware says otherwise.
If other companies’ bad takes on a concept served as discouragement, Apple would never have released the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, the Apple Watch.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)