GoKawiilApple’s cautious entrance into the smart glasses field means that we have a reasonably good idea what to expect, and have been able to preview some of the capabilities through existing devices.
Ray-Ban Meta glasses have given me two years’ experience of the kind of capabilities we’re expecting from the first Apple Glasses model, and the Even Realities G2 are currently giving me a preview of what we can expect from a later model: smart glasses with a display …
First-gen Apple Glasses
The wait for Apple Glasses won’t be over for some time yet. The latest expectation is that they will be announced at WWDC27 and then go on sale later in the year.
They will be equipped with a camera and therefore able to see what we can see, which will enable them to perform a similar role to Visual Intelligence on the iPhone. The primary benefit here will be the seamlessness of the experience. Instead of having to take our iPhone out of our pocket and open the camera app before pointing it at whatever interests us, we can simply say “Hey Siri” and it will already be able to see what we’re looking at.
We’re also expecting them to be able to announce notifications by voice and read messages to us. It’s also a safe bet that they’ll have translation capabilities similar to some AirPods.
It’s been suggested that Apple hasn’t yet decided whether or not the glasses will be able to take photos and shoot video. I recently argued that while I can fully understand privacy concerns, my own view is that the product would be dead in the water without this capability.
What they won’t have is a display. That’s something we’re expecting to see in a later model, perhaps in 2028.
Apple Glasses with display
Way back in 2019, it was being suggested that senior Apple execs eventually expected smart glasses with displays to replace the iPhone. I expressed skepticism at this idea, arguing that they would be more likely to replace the Apple Watch.
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