A new, anonymously sourced report details an effort inside Apple to make glasses into the company’s next big wearable. Apparently we should picture something like the Apple Watch: a sleek, internally designed new object of consumer envy, which comes in a variety of designs, but with an instantly recognizable profile, or “icon” as this concept is reportedly known internally.
The leakers say a broader push into wearables will come on the heels of apple’s smart glasses, and it will all be powered by the mythical new Siri. Which, in spite of all the delays, sounds like its meant to be a ubiquitous part of Apple’s plans for the next few years.
The report comes from Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, who has made a name for himself by collecting information from Apple leakers, and who has already claimed that a wearables push from Apple is well on its way. Gurman says the company is developing “its own version,” of the Meta-dominated audio-enabled smart glasses device, and that it’s “internally code-named N50.” We should expect it to be officially unveiled by the end of this year, apparently, and then released in 2027.
What are those other wearables Gurman is predicting? Perhaps you’ve already heard these rumors: a pendant sort of like the Humane Ai Pin (“But it might work for us!“), and the long-rumored AirPods with cameras.
As far as features and functions go, here’s a breakdown of what Gurman has indicated:
- Four possible style types, including Wayfarer-type, big round (probably Harry Potter-type), “more refined oval or circular” type (I’m picturing Billie Eilish but who knows?), and rectangular (“like Tim Cook’s,” per Gurman)
- Lots of different colors
- Intended uses that include Siri interactions (naturally), music, photo and video-capturing, dealing with phone calls, and receiving notifications.
- A sort of always-on wearable ecosystem for your data, that feeds “contextual awareness into Siri and Apple Intelligence,” Gurman says.
If you’re someone who really likes computer, and wants computer on you and around you all the time, you can probably already picture how an entry in this product category from Cupertino might benefit you. I can picture apps that gamify chores, or a whole new dimension in spoken turn-by-turn directions—”See that statue of a guy on a horse? The bike path is just before it on your left,” sorta thing.
It’s probably wise to suspend all predictions of blockbuster success or miserable failure here, and just let this unfold—not just when it comes to Apple’s glasses, but all of its possible new wearables. It’s true that Apple has struggled mightily with Siri, and the Apple Vision Pro. But Apple is, historically speaking, pretty good at taking a new product category consumers are skeptical about, and releasing a product in that category that ropes people into it en masse.
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