Apple Changes Course, Readies Chips For A Proper Pair Of Smart Glasses

Apple hasn’t exactly made it a secret that it’s developing a pair of smart Meta Ray-Ban-like glasses behind the scenes, separate from the company’s recent expedition into augmented reality (AR) with its mildly successful Vision Pro. The Big Fruit Company has reportedly tasked its silicon design group to generate new chips that’ll serve as the basis of new, more powerful Macs, AI servers, and eventually, smart glasses.

The Apple of my eye(s)

That’s according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who reckons Apple is making headway on its plans for its first pair of smart eyewear. According to people familiar with the matter, Apple won’t make the big push until at least 2027, despite the company already “ramping up work” on the device. First, it needs a chipset.

The chipset used is expected to be a watered-down version of those found in the Apple Watch series, which generally require less power than their smarter, larger siblings. It’s said to be removing parts to further improve power efficiency, while also powering the several cameras Apple plans to throw in the thing.

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It aims to put its plans into production by the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027, meaning a full release can’t be far off by Apple’s standards. The delay thus far is down to its desire to kit the device out with AR functionality, an idea it’s put on pause while it pursues non-AR hardware that’ll get by with the basics – taking pictures, recording audio, and Apple Intelligence.

The sudden urge to compete in the smart wearables space comes from Tim Cook’s refusal to lose the smart wearables race to Mark Zuckerberg, whose Meta already has quite the headstart in that department. To that end, Meta is reportedly readying a more premium offering in its partnership with Ray-Ban, putting another chink in Cook’s pride.

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