The accumulated shipments of the Ray-Ban Meta have crossed the one million mark, making it the most successful display-less smart glasses to date, according to Counterpoint Research’s smart glasses shipment forecasts. Which makes me wonder if Ray-Ban’s success will spur Apple to devote more resources to the rumored “Apple Glasses.”
The Ray-Ban Meta (pictured) is a series of stylish smart glasses with a built-in camera, speakers, and Meta AI voice commands for about US$300.
“The development of the smart glasses market has been constrained by limited functionalities, uncomfortable wearing experience, unfriendly interaction and low battery life,” says the research group. “The Ray-Ban Meta aims to address these issues, giving a new direction to the still-maturing smart glass technological ecosystem.”
Counterpoint says the Ray-Ban Meta’s success is inspiring the industry to give more attention to developing lightweight smart glasses while leveraging the on-device and cloud AI to provide interactive services.
“There are reasons to believe this type of design will gradually become a key segment of smart wearables,” adds the research group. “We also expect more AR and smart glass designs will be powered by Qualcomm’s AR platforms, leveraging the growing AI capability to enable richer use cases.”
As for “Apple Glasses” and follow-ups to the Apple Vision Pro, the rumors are all over the place. Apple plans to release an updated Vision Pro headset with a M5 chip in 2025, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in an “X” post. The current Vision Pro is equipped with the M2 chip, which debuted in 2022. Kuo thinks a less expensive spatial computer has been delayed to 2027 or beyond.
However, in an October 13, 2024 “Power On” newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said Apple may release a new Vision Pro next year for about US$2,000, compared to the current model’s starting price of US3,499.
He said that Apple will lower the price by using a less powerful processor and more plastic, less aluminum and glass. Gurman adds that the next version of the spatial computer will also drop the EyeSight feature. EyeSight reveals your eyes on the front of your Apple Vision Pro, and lets those nearby know when you’re using apps or fully immersed in an experience.
When it comes to more affordable smart glasses, Apple is purportedly conducing an in-house survey on the feasibility of such a product. The initiative, code-named Atlas, got underway earlier this month and involves gathering feedback from Apple employees on smart glasses.
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