Is Apple looking to design AR glasses again?
The failure of Google Glass to take off as a product didn’t discourage the Cupertino company from pursuing a similar project, colloquially called Apple Glass. It was, however, put on a backburner in 2023, as reported by Bloomberg. Tim Cook and the team wished to boost the process around Apple Vision Pro, the mixed reality headset. The decision, it seems, was a sound one, with the spatial computer, as the maker calls the device, forming significant waves on the market and selling as well as to trigger the release of visionOS 2.0, next version of the operating system enabling the headset. With this project in a steady ascending orbit, Apple seems to have recalled that glasses are a good idea, too.
Previously on Apple Glass…
The rumors about AR glasses by Apple have been around for almost a decade now. In 2015, the company filed first patent applications hinting at the intention to build a product that would compete with Google Glass. The latter, however, was already discontinued as a mass-market product by then, but remained in the enterprise realm, where it was sold up to 2023. Thus, Apple obviously had its own stance about AR that couldn’t be swayed by the rival’s failure.
2024 hinge patent by Apple
The suggestion that the company brings the Apple Glass project to the forefront is backed by the spotting of a patent application describing an eyewear arm hinge and containing words like “electronic components,” “electrical connectors,” and even “electronic eyewear.”
Yes, Apple files a lot of applications, and holds a total of 95500 patents (as of this writing), so this can well be something for the future quite remote. Still, the rumor has the company preparing to launch Apple Glass (again, this is not an official name) sometime in 2027. There are many miniaturization challenges designers of AR eyewear have to overcome, and, if this patent application is indicative, Apple seeks to address them one by one.
We’ll keep tabs on this subject and report new sightings of patent applications from Apple that may be related to glasses, so stay tuned!
