Taimur Asad·

Apple’s First Smart Glasses Could Launch In 2026, Report Claims

Apple is working on its first pair of smart glasses with the aim being to launch it by the end of 2026, according to a new report.

That report comes via Bloomberg which claims that the new glasses will be similar to the Android XR glasses that Google showed at its I/O developer event earlier this week.

They’ll also be similar to the existing Meta Ray-Bans sunglasses, but likely with additional features. The report also notes that Apple has canceled plans to launch an Apple Watch with a camera built in.

Company engineers are ramping up work on the glasses — a rival to Meta Platforms Inc.’s popular Ray-Bans — in a bid to meet the year-end 2026 target, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Apple will start producing large quantities of prototypes at the end of this year with overseas suppliers, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the products haven’t been announced.

It’s thought that the glasses will use built-in sensors, cameras, and microphones to power AI capabilities and offer augmented reality features. Turn-by-turn navigation and the ability to record video or offer translations are some examples of what Apple’s smart glasses are expected to offer.

Apple’s launch of the Apple Vision Pro was always seen as a way to work towards putting some of the same technology and learnings into something that people could wear all the time, and smart glasses seem the natural evolution of that. Whether Apple will meet its planned 2026 launch, however, remains to be seen.

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