New Details on Apple’s First Smart Glasses: 2027 Launch Target, Scaled-Back Design Roadmap

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, one of the most trusted journalists tracking Apple’s unannounced hardware projects, Apple is planning to release its first-ever consumer smart glasses in 2027, with a potential official unveil set for the end of this year.

Gurman has tracked shifts in Apple’s smart glasses strategy for years, and he has now shared new concrete details about the device’s design. He confirms Apple is currently testing four completely separate frame prototypes, and may ultimately launch multiple versions of the glasses to suit different consumer preferences.

The four designs currently under evaluation break down as: a large, broad rectangular frame, a slimmer rectangular style matching the everyday glasses Apple CEO Tim Cook regularly wears, a larger oval or circular frame, and a compact smaller oval or circular frame. Apple is also testing a range of color options for the final product, including classic black, ocean blue, and soft light brown.

This new smart glasses project marks a deliberate scaling back from Apple’s original, more ambitious vision for spatial computing. The company once planned to launch a full ecosystem of mixed and augmented reality devices, but that roadmap has already hit significant snags: repeated product delays and the muted market reception of Apple’s first spatial computing headset, the Vision Pro.

Unlike the high-end Vision Pro, Apple’s upcoming smart glasses are positioned much closer to Meta’s popular Ray-Ban Stories line in terms of functionality. The new glasses will not include any built-in displays, but will focus on everyday connected features: users will be able to capture photos and videos (Apple is reportedly using custom oval camera lenses for the device), answer phone calls, stream music, and integrate with the long-promised major overhaul of Apple’s Siri voice assistant.