To round out January, Mark Gurman is now reporting that Apple is canceling its AR Glasses Project. This would have paired with its devices, that would compete with Meta’s own products.
Apple reportedly shuttered the program this week, according to people with knowledge of the move. These glasses would have looked like normal glasses but included built-in displays that required a connection to a Mac.
This was supposedly going to be a potential way forward for Apple, after the introduction of the Vision Pro earlier this year at $3,499. The Vision Pro was cumbersome and to pricey for many consumers to purchase. With these AR Glasses, Apple was hoping to produce something that everyday users could use. However, finding the right technology and at the right cost, has been a challenge for Apple.
Meta announced it sold 1 million Ray-Ban Smart Glasses last year
This also comes hot off the news that Meta and Ray-Ban sold one million pairs of its smart glasses last year. Meta is also reportedly working on a version that adds augmented reality, and expects it to be ready around 2027. Meta has been able to capture this market with the Meta Ray-Bans because these are existing glasses, popular glasses at that, and have a little bit of functionality, while not being extremely expensive.
This is yet another project that Apple has killed in the past year. It was reported last year that Apple also killed off its self-driving car project. Apple also has canceled work on custom Apple Watch screens, and now its AR Glasses.
Apple had seen AR, VR, and XR as the next step beyond the iPhone. Of course, none of those terms were used with the Vision Pro, but it was essentially extended reality or XR. Now with the company having axed its AR Glasses, what’s next? Will Apple still make a cheaper version of the Vision Pro? Who knows.
