Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple is considering developing new wearables, namely smart rings and smart glasses. Although the former is just a concept, smart glasses are said to be in the exploratory stage of "technical investigation" by Apple's hardware division.
Gurman said that Apple is considering developing an eyewear device similar to Meta and Amazon smart glasses, which will serve as an alternative to "AirPods" and support artificial intelligence features, and could also be a stepping stone to full-fledged AR glasses.
Meta launched the second generation of smart glasses last October, and the market demand for Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses was higher than expected, a success that may encourage Apple to follow Meta's lead, while Amazon is offering a similar product, "Echo Frames".
At the beginning of 2023, Gurman reported that Apple had indefinitely postponed the launch of AR glasses and scaled back related work due to "technical challenges". Now, Gurman's new report could mark a resurgence of Apple's such developments.
According to the leaked hardware roadmap, Meta will launch the third-generation Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses in 2025, which will feature a viewfinder display for the first time. Meta may launch a full-fledged AR glasses as early as this year, but it won't be available to consumers due to the high cost of manufacturing, and according to the leaked roadmap, the first commercial version of AR glasses is scheduled to be launched in 2027.
It can be seen that Meta's investment in AR glasses may put pressure on Apple to launch similar products.
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