Apple smart glasses could come as soon as 2026

Just a few days after Google unveiled its AR smart glasses, a new report suggests Apple may soon release a similar product.

The iPhone maker is apparently planning on launching its long-rumored smart glasses in 2026, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. According to the report, the glasses will have microphones, speakers, and cameras built in, with an emphasis on AI features. This would allow users to ask for directions, do live language translation, and listen to music, among other things.

However, one thing to note is that these glasses will more than likely not feature AR support of any kind, unlike Google’s recently announced Android XR glasses. It’s also unclear if they would allow for a similar level of self-expression via partnerships with different brands, such as Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, like Google is offering. According to Bloomberg, Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses are the closest point of comparison, as they allow users to perform some AI tasks with voice commands, but don’t have any kind of mixed reality display built in.

This report comes after a pair of different Bloomberg reports earlier this year reshaped user expectations for Apple’s next stab at a computer that you wear on your face. Apple was rumored to be working on AR glasses like Google’s for some time, but the business publication said back in February that they had been canceled. A couple of months later, prominent Apple reporter Mark Gurman said in Bloomberg that Apple is making glasses, but they won’t feature AR. This latest report seems to be consistent with all of that.

For those of us who are old enough to remember the big-time failure of Google Glass as a consumer device 10 years ago, all of this is still a little hard to believe.