Gurman: Tim Cook is ‘Hell-Bent’ on Creating Apple Glasses
Credit: iDrop News / Wilson Nicklaus
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Rumors of Apple Glasses’ demise may have been overstated. While Apple reportedly shelved the project two years ago to focus on getting the Vision Pro to market, it’s reportedly not only still in the works but is a massive priority for Apple.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, true augmented reality glasses — the “Apple Glass” project we’ve reported on before — has been Tim Cook’s “grand vision” for at least a decade. “Tim cares about nothing else,” Gurman cites someone with knowledge of the matter as saying. “It’s the only thing he’s really spending his time on from a product development standpoint.”
These ambitions likely came on the heels of Google Glass, which showed that such an idea was at least possible. Google’s spectacles failed for various reasons, not the least of which may have been that they were ahead of their time. Nevertheless, it’s the type of thing that Apple would look at and decide that it can do better — and it’s been aiming to do so for years.
Still, despite rumors going back to at least 2018, we have yet to see a product materialize. In 2019, Apple reportedly had both a mixed-reality headset and AR glasses in development, with plans to release them about a year apart. The headset, then codenamed N301, ultimately became the Vision Pro, but the “N421” glasses supposedly ended up on the back burner.
That was partly about focusing on the Vision Pro, but that wasn’t the only issue. It seemed that the technology wasn’t ready for Apple to pull off a fully capable set of augmented reality glasses. The Vision Pro spent more years in development than anyone outside of Apple anticipated; looking back, it’s quaint to think that many once believed it would be ready in 2019.
More recent reports suggested that Apple never got beyond the preliminary “architecture” phase for Apple Glass, which is the stage at which it merely researched the technologies involved. If the AR glasses that Apple dreamed of making were even doable, the costs would likely be too high to make them a viable consumer product.
That’s exemplified by Meta’s recent entry into this space. Last year, it unveiled a set of Orion AR Glasses that reportedly cost $10,000 just to build. It’s unclear what Meta will sell them for since they aren’t anywhere near release. The first developer units may become available in 2026, and the company hopes to launch a consumer version by the end of 2027. By then, it may be able to get its production costs down, but these may still make the $3,500 Vision Pro look affordable by comparison.
Nevertheless, Meta’s efforts appear to be lighting a fire under Apple, and has become something of an obsession for the company’s CEO.
Cook has made this idea a top priority for the company and is hell-bent on creating an industry-leading product before Meta can.
Mark Gurman
If any company can pull off true AR glasses, it would be Apple. Even leaving aside the fact that it’s the world’s most valuable company, it also has expertise in all the right areas, from semiconductors to software, manufacturing, and the app ecosystem.
However, the technology has to be perfected at a cost and scale that will make these practical, and we’re a long way from that stage. We’re talking about cramming high-resolution displays, powerful Apple silicon, and a sufficient battery into something the size of a pair of eyeglasses. Even today’s Vision Pro is powered by an external battery pack, and it already weighs a pound and a half without the battery.
Apple understands that it’s going to take at least a few more years to achieve its ultimate vision, so in the short term, it’s reportedly been pursuing a simpler set of smart glasses that would compete with Meta’s Ray-Bans or Amazon’s Echo Frames. These would be tethered to an iPhone or a Mac, but they’re just a stepping stone to the real deal, and Apple may not even move forward with them. It’s already nixed at least one version and reportedly doesn’t have anything else in the pipeline right now. It’s unclear if it will resurrect this idea down the road or wait until it can grab the brass ring and create the mythic Apple Glass we’ve all been waiting for.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
