Apple is quietly building AI-powered smart glasses
Apple is developing a pair of smart glasses codenamed N50, according to Mark Gurman’s latest Power On newsletter. The device is expected to integrate some of the company’s AI developments into a relatively affordable pair of glasses.
The smart glasses are not the same as Apple’s long-term goal of creating industry-leading augmented reality glasses, which are still a few years away from being feasible for consumer products. Instead, Apple is taking a more immediate approach, similar to Meta’s collaboration with Ray-Ban on smart glasses that include cameras, microphones, an AI assistant, and speakers.
According to Mark Gurman, Apple will follow a similar pattern:
This device isn’t close to being ready yet, but the idea is to turn glasses into an Apple Intelligence device. The product will analyze the surrounding environment and feed information to the wearer, though it will stop well short of true augmented reality.
The Apple smart glasses will analyze the surrounding environment and provide information to the wearer, but will not offer true augmented reality capabilities, according to Gurman. The device is still in development and not yet ready for release.
Previous reports have suggested that Apple may not allow the glasses to take photos due to privacy concerns, but this is still undecided. Gurman has also mentioned that Apple is working on AirPods with cameras, which will incorporate Visual Intelligence technology.
Both the smart glasses and AirPods with cameras are expected to launch around 2027, based on previous reporting.