Apple Working On Transformed AirPods And Smart Glasses, New Report Claims

Would Apple AirPods be better if they had cameras on board? Should Apple make smart glasses like Meta’s Ray-Bans? These seem to be the questions facing Apple engineers according to a new report. Though neither will be along very soon.

Apple is working on a new version of Apple Vision Pro, smart glasses and radically different AirPods, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his latest Power On newsletter.

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Gurman explains, “The Vision Products Group is working on at least four new devices. I expect a lower-end Vision headset to arrive as early as next year, with a second-generation Vision Pro — sporting a faster chip — following in 2026. The lower-end model would cost about $2,000 and probably use an inferior processor and cheaper materials. It also would lack EyeSight, a gee-whiz feature that shows a user’s eyes on the outside of the headset. With the lower price, Apple is expecting unit sales of the device to be at least double the level of the Vision Pro.”

Then, he goes on, the company’s response to Meta’s smart glasses would come the year after. In 2027, he says, “The team is considering launching smart glasses on par with the Meta Ray-Bans, as well as AirPods with cameras.”

The smart glasses I understand easily, but AirPods with cameras? Here’s the thinking behind them, according to Gurman. “The company is exploring the idea of putting cameras on the earbuds, along with more advanced AI and health sensors. That would give consumers many of the benefits of smart glasses without needing lenses and frames.”

It’s still hard to get your head around, as it were. Which way would the cameras point? Would they have to flash to indicated they’re seeing stuff, to assuage privacy issues?

Would they, most importantly, fulfill my long-held dream of technology to help my failing memory for names? If the AirPods cameras were facing forward and were capable of facial recognition, whispering the name of that person walking towards me, then I’m in.

The smart glasses could do that as well, of course, but speaking the name through the arm of the specs could be audible, which would ruin the trick.

Even so, intriguing products could be in prospect, if they ever appear.

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