Apple is reportedly developing smart glasses and AirPods with built-in cameras, with a potential launch date of 2027. This news comes from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who suggests these devices are part of Apple’s strategy to expand its augmented reality (AR) offerings beyond the high-end Vision Pro headset.
The smart glasses are envisioned as a more accessible and everyday wearable, similar to Meta’s Ray-Ban collaboration. These glasses, along with the camera-equipped AirPods, would leverage the technology developed for the Vision Pro, allowing them to analyze the user’s surroundings and provide relevant information.
This technology is also expected to feature in the upcoming iPhone 16 lineup. Users will be able to point their iPhone’s camera at an object and, with a click-and-hold gesture, receive information about it.
A Multi-Pronged AR Strategy
While still in the planning stages, the smart glasses and camera-equipped AirPods represent Apple’s commitment to making AR more accessible. By integrating AR features into familiar form factors like glasses and earbuds, Apple aims to bring this technology to a wider audience.
Gurman also indicates that a more affordable version of the Vision Pro headset, priced around $2,000, could arrive as early as 2025. A second-generation Vision Pro with an upgraded processor is reportedly slated for a 2026 release.
This suggests a multi-tiered approach to AR, with the Vision Pro catering to professional and early adopter use cases, while the smart glasses and AirPods target everyday consumers.
