Bad news for fans of bad products. Apple won’t be shipping a pair of augmented reality glasses that require a tethered connection to the Mac after all. Mark Gurman at Bloomberg has the exclusive development, including a thorough description of how the product would have worked. Based on Mark’s reporting, this project was buried in compromises that ultimately made it undesirable.
Apple Glasses remains a product that technology enthusiasts want to see from Apple, but this Mac-connected hardware sounded like a dud based on the direction of the project. Apple wasn’t expected to announce and ship hardware until at least 2027.
Here’s Mark Gurman reporting on the project cancellation:
Apple Inc. has canceled a project to build advanced augmented reality glasses that would pair with its devices, marking the latest setback in its effort to create a headset that appeals to typical consumers.
The company shuttered the program this week, according to people with knowledge of the move. The now-canceled product would have looked like normal glasses but include built-in displays and require a connection to a Mac, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the work wasn’t public. An Apple representative declined to comment.
People want to wear a pair of augmented reality smart glasses wherever they go, not when they’re stuck at their desk or behind a laptop. Apple knows that of course, which is why the project initially tried to use the iPhone for compute and not the Mac, but that product wasn’t feasible for Apple.
However, Gurman details a number of new technologies that Apple hoped to use in the tethered smart glasses product.
The N107 device had advanced projectors that could display information, images and video in the field of view for each eye, similar to augmented reality glasses being developed by Meta and others. Despite the project being shuttered, Apple is still working on underlying technologies that could be used in AR glasses down the road, including custom microLED-type screens, Bloomberg News reported this week.
The company worked on including lenses that could change their tint depending on what a user is doing. The idea was to tell an onlooker if the person is present and approachable — or busy working on computing tasks.
Still, needing a tethered computer is too tall of an ask to make a hit product.
Meanwhile, Meta drew attention last year when it showed off a very early prototype of the type of product Apple was developing. Orion, as Meta calls it, costs about $10,000 to even produce and requires a separate compute device for functionality. Meta believes it can bring down the cost and turn Orion into a compelling product in the years ahead.
Read Mark Gurman’s full story at Bloomberg.
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