Mark Gurman reports for Bloomberg News that Apple is developing a chip intended for smart glasses that could come to market in the next two years.However, these smart glasses may not be the highly advanced augmented reality glasses that Apple envisions making someday.Instead, Apple has set its sights on competing with Meta and its camera-equipped Ray-Ban smart glasses.
According to Gurman, the non-AR smart glasses will use a class of chip comparable to what’s inside the Apple Watch today.Based on Apple’s plans to mass produce the chip at the end of next year or in 2027, Gurman believes we could see the hardware arrive in the next two years.Camera-equipped smart glasses would join the list of other Apple wearables set to receive cameras in future hardware revisions, Gurman adds.
For now, Apple’s wearable division is limited to the Apple Watch, AirPods, and more recently, Apple Vision Pro.However, the $3500 mixed reality spatial computer is vastly different from the more mass consumer product that augmented reality glasses may someday be.Separately, Gurman details other Apple silicon development including “M6 (Komodo) and M7 (Borneo)” chips that will follow the M5 (due in new iPad Pro and MacBook Pro updates as soon as late 2025).
An AI server chip “dubbed Baltra, is planned to be completed by 2027,” according to Gurman.And after shipping the C1 modem in the iPhone 16e, Apple plans to ship upgraded versions of its first in-house cellular modems with “a pro-level C2 modem for next year’s high-end iPhones and an even higher-end C3 version for the year after.” Does an Apple version of Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses sound appealing? At the very least, Apple’s push into mixed reality headsets and non-AR smart glasses validates Meta’s hardware efforts to some degree as both companies chase the dream of true AR glasses.Read the latest Bloomberg report in full here.
Check out these iPhone apps and accessories
USB-C charger
MagSafe battery
Wireless CarPlay adapter
Craft for iPhone, iPad, Mac
Fantastical + Cardhop
Follow Zac Hall: X | Threads | Instagram | Mastodon
You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day.Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop.Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel
