There’s one Apple product I keep thinking about while everyone gets ready for tomorrow’s iPhone event.
Apple Glasses.
Not Vision Pro. Not another headset. Not some enormous piece of technology strapped to your face.
Actual glasses.
And while they probably won’t be part of tomorrow’s announcements, the idea of Apple finally entering the smart glasses market is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Apple is reportedly working on its first pair of lightweight smart glasses, with the current plan pointing towards 2027. Unlike Vision Pro, these aren’t expected to have displays. Instead, they’re being designed around cameras, microphones, speakers, sensors and Apple’s increasingly important AI capabilities. (9to5Mac)
In other words: they could look like normal glasses.
That’s what makes them interesting.
Apple doesn’t need to reinvent glasses
Meta has already shown that people are willing to wear connected glasses.
The latest Ray-Ban smart glasses can sit on your face all day — without making you look like you’ve just stepped out of a science-fiction movie.
They can play music, capture photos and videos, interact with AI and provide information without requiring you to constantly pull out your phone.
Apple has obviously been quietly watching products like Meta Orion.
But Apple’s version could be much more deeply integrated into its “it just works” ecosystem.
Imagine putting your glasses on in the morning and simply asking Siri: “what am I looking at?”
A sign in another language? Translate it.
Something you’ve never seen before? Ask what it is.
Need to remember where you saw something? Let the glasses handle it.
Want directions, music or a quick answer? You don’t necessarily need to reach for your iPhone.
That feels much closer to the future Apple has been trying to build with Vision Pro — except without requiring you to wear a computer on your face.
And the design could be the real Apple moment.
Reports suggest Apple is testing multiple frame designs rather than creating one instantly recognisable piece of futuristic eyewear. There are apparently several shapes in development, including rectangular and circular/oval designs, with different finishes also being considered. (9to5Mac)
That makes sense.
The Apple Watch succeeded partly because Apple understood that it wasn’t just selling technology. It was selling something people were going to wear every day.
Glasses are even more personal.
They have to look good.
They have to feel normal.
And, perhaps most importantly, you have to actually want to leave the house wearing them.
Apple could be very good at that.
But there’s a problem Apple can’t design its way around …
Privacy
Smart glasses with cameras are fundamentally different from an iPhone camera. You can see when someone is holding up a phone.
You might not notice a camera built into someone’s glasses.
That concern is already becoming increasingly serious around today’s smart glasses, with privacy and covert recording becoming a major part of the conversation.
Apple knows this.
And if there’s one company that can’t afford to ignore the issue, it’s Apple.
The company will need to make it incredibly obvious when the glasses are doing something that affects the people around you — while convincing users that their own data remains private.
That could become just as important as the hardware itself.
The really exciting part comes later
The first Apple glasses reportedly won’t have displays.
And honestly?
I’m fine with that
Because I think the first generation could be the beginning rather than the finished product.
Apple is also reportedly working on a much more ambitious generation of glasses with displays and augmented-reality capabilities, but that appears to be considerably further away. Current reports point towards 2029 for those devices. (9to5Mac)
That’s the Apple Glasses I really want to see.
Glasses that eventually become a genuine computer.
But perhaps Apple has finally realised that the road there doesn’t begin with putting a screen in front of your eyes.
It begins with making people comfortable wearing the thing.
And if Apple can make smart glasses feel as normal as AirPods or an Apple Watch, they could quietly become one of the company’s biggest new product categories.
So no, I don’t expect Apple Glasses tomorrow.
But every time Apple holds an event going forward, I will be in a room no-doubt wondering; how much longer do we have to wait.