Apple plans to launch smartglasses by the end of 2026. Company engineers are accelerating development to compete with Meta Platforms’ popular Ray-Ban smart glasses, Bloomberg News reports citing “people with knowledge of the matter.”
Apple will start producing large quantities of prototypes at the end of this year with overseas suppliers, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the products haven’t been announced.
Apple’s glasses would have cameras, microphones and speakers, allowing them to analyze the external world and take requests via the Siri voice assistant. They could also handle tasks such as phone calls, music playback, live translations, and turn-by-turn directions. The approach would be similar to that of Meta’s current glasses and upcoming devices running Alphabet Inc.’s Android XR operating system.
One person with knowledge of the glasses said they will be similar to the Meta product but better made.
Perfecting an AI device promises to be a high-stakes competition. Apple has struggled to add compelling AI features to its iPhones, iPads, and Macs, and now it risks missing out on entire new product categories. The Apple Intelligence platform, released last year, has lagged behind competitors’ technology…
People working on Apple’s smart glasses remain concerned that its AI failings may undermine the new product. The Meta Ray-Bans and upcoming glasses running the Android operating system benefit from the strength of Meta’s Llama and Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence platforms.
MacDailyNews Take: The weak link, as it has been for many years, is Siri.
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