Smart Glasses, Smarter Chip: Apple’s Next Big Leap

Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses have had a solid run at the front of the wearable tech conversation, bringing cameras, microphones, and AI into a fashionable frame. But while Meta focused on getting something out into the world, Apple has been quietly working on something more ambitious. Now, Apple’s long-rumoured smart glasses are real, and closer than we thought.

Apple is reportedly developing two distinct smart glasses products: one with full augmented reality (AR) capabilities, and one simpler, non-AR model focused on key smart functions (much like the Meta Rayban's).

At the core of this development is a brand-new chip, built on the same foundation as Apple Watch silicon, but adapted to support the complex needs of smart glasses particularly multiple cameras and sensors.

Apple’s Approach: Precision Over Speed

Unlike Meta, which has adopted a more iterative, public approach with products like the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, Apple appears to be taking its time focusing on building a wearable that isn’t just functional, but transformative. Where Meta’s glasses emphasise communication and content capture, Apple’s aim seems broader: to create a platform that enables spatial computing experiences in everyday settings.

A Glimpse at the Competition: Meta Orion

While Apple builds behind closed doors, Meta is also developing its more advanced Orion AR glasses, with features like micro-LED displays, wrist-based neural input, and a separate compute puck for processing power. Orion is ambitious, but still at the prototype stage, with no confirmed release timeline and high costs that could limit early adoption.

Building Toward a Wearable Ecosystem

Apple’s smart glasses aren't being developed in isolation. The company is also reportedly exploring camera-equipped AirPods and future Apple Watch models with visual sensors, suggesting a broader strategy to create a multi-device spatial computing ecosystem.

It’s not about replacing the iPhone overnight. It’s about extending Apple’s computing platform into new spaces, subtly and incrementally, just as they’ve done with the Watch, AirPods, and most recently, the Vision Pro.