Snap is turning its long-running augmented reality glasses project into something much bigger. The company has officially detailed SPECS, its standalone AR glasses, alongside SPECS Intelligence, a new anticipatory AI service designed to bring personal context across the glasses, iPhone, and Mac.

First introduced earlier this year, SPECS are now available to pre-order in the US, UK, and France for $2,195, with a $200 refundable deposit. Snap says shipping is expected to begin later this fall.

The company is pitching SPECS as a new kind of computer rather than simply another pair of smart glasses. The glasses have their computing hardware built directly into the frames, with no external puck or tether, while see-through lenses place digital content into the wearer’s physical surroundings. Users can interact with the system using their hands and voice.

Snap previously said SPECS use two Snapdragon processors, with one dedicated to computer vision and another handling Lenses. The company claims the system delivers 7-millisecond motion-to-photon latency and up to four hours of mixed-use battery life. The included charging case can provide four additional charges, for up to 20 hours of mixed use.

SPECS Intelligence is the bigger story

Alongside the hardware, Snap is introducing SPECS Intelligence, an AI service designed to work across iPhone, Mac, and SPECS.

Instead of waiting for users to ask questions, Snap describes SPECS Intelligence as an “anticipatory” system that can recognize when assistance could be useful and surface relevant information or actions. It can build an understanding of a user’s goals, priorities, relationships, and routines based on the apps and services they choose to connect.

For example, before a meeting, SPECS Intelligence could surface decisions that need to be made, questions worth asking, or things the user needs to remember. For an upcoming trip, it could bring together flight, hotel, and dinner information while also flagging a work deadline that falls during the trip. On SPECS, that personal context can extend into the physical world, where relevant information can appear directly in the user’s field of view.

Snap is starting the SPECS Intelligence preview in the US. Anyone 18 or older can download the SPECS iOS app and try the preview, while a waitlist is available for invitation-only early access to the fuller Mac experience.

That makes SPECS Intelligence particularly interesting because Snap isn’t treating the glasses as an isolated AI device. Instead, it is building a broader personal-computing layer that can move with the user between traditional screens and the physical world.

AR experiences go beyond Snapchat

Snap is also showing off a growing collection of experiences designed specifically for SPECS.

Sports are one major focus. In partnership with the NBA and WNBA, Snap is developing interactive basketball experiences that can provide visual guidance, drills, and progress cues while users practice with a real ball and hoop. Other experiences target soccer and golf, including a golf Lens developed with guidance from PGA professionals that can analyze movements and provide personalized advice.

Entertainment is another major part of the platform. A Harry Potter Lens created with HBO Max will let users interact with moments inspired by the upcoming Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone series, including receiving a Hogwarts acceptance letter, choosing a wand, and casting spells.

SPECS can also turn the world around the wearer into an educational environment. Snap highlights an Apollo 11 experience that recreates the historic Moon mission and Starmap, which overlays constellations onto the surrounding environment.

For more traditional entertainment, SPECS includes a browser capable of streaming services including YouTube and HBO Max. Snap says the glasses can create a virtual 115-inch cinema screen positioned about 10 feet away. A Travel Mode is designed to keep the virtual display stable while the wearer is on a moving train or airplane.

Spotify integration adds another layer, allowing users to request music or podcasts through SPECS or use an image to get recommendations based on the situation.

Translation and navigation happen in your field of view

Some of the most immediately practical SPECS features involve travel.

The glasses can provide translated captions when another person is speaking a different language. Snap says the translation system supports 60 languages and can track the speaker while displaying translated subtitles directly in the user’s field of view.

Navigation works in a similar way. Users can enter a destination or simply tell SPECS where they want to go, with directional arrows overlaid onto the physical environment. The arrows move with the user, while optional voice guidance provides additional assistance.

Snap is also working with Tripadvisor to bring nearby restaurants, landmarks, and experiences into SPECS. Users can get recommendations, translate reviews and local phrases, and convert currencies without reaching for a phone.

Shopping gets an AR treatment as well. Through Shopify’s product catalog, users can view products in 3D and place them at full scale within their surroundings to see how they would look in their homes. Purchases can then be completed through the retailer’s website.

SPECS can become a virtual workstation

Snap isn’t positioning SPECS purely as an entertainment device.

The glasses can connect wirelessly to a computer and expand a traditional workstation beyond the physical boundaries of a desktop. Snap’s Whiteboard experience can turn a room into a virtual space for brainstorming, organizing workflows, and creating diagrams, while Bluetooth peripherals such as keyboards can be used for document editing.

The company is also pushing into enterprise applications. Snap has announced partnerships with Salesforce, Amazon Web Services, NVIDIA, Trifork, Hololight, and others to bring SPECS into environments such as retail stores, factories, and field operations.

The idea is straightforward: workers who spend much of their time away from desks can access computing while keeping their hands free and their attention on their surroundings.

Snap has been building out the developer side of the platform too. Its Lens Studio tools now support an agentic development framework that works with AI coding tools including Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor. Developers can use it for tasks ranging from prototyping and debugging to testing and publishing SPECS experiences. Snap has also introduced a Spatial Benchmark for evaluating AI models on real-world spatial tasks.

Privacy is part of the hardware design

With cameras, microphones, AI and a computer attached to someone’s face, privacy is an obvious concern.

Snap says SPECS do not use facial recognition to identify people and do not continuously record or save the surrounding world. When the wearer takes a photo or records video or audio, an external LED in the center of the frames lights up or flashes to indicate that recording is happening.

Users also control which information and services SPECS can access, with Lenses asking before accessing sensitive information.

For SPECS Intelligence, Snap says users choose what they connect and what information the service can use. The company says Snap personnel cannot view or access personal content used with the service, and that personal content from connected accounts isn’t used to train or fine-tune AI models or serve personalized ads. Snap says the system uses a combination of on-device processing and secure cloud infrastructure.

A cellular charging case adds another layer

Snap is also introducing a separate SPECS Charging Case with Cellular. The case provides four additional charges while adding cellular connectivity through supported wireless carriers.

In the US, Verizon will offer SPECS customers dedicated data plans, financing options, digital setup, and hands-on experiences in select stores. The SPECS Connected Case bundle costs $2,395, while connected wearable plans start at $10 per month for Verizon customers and $20 per month for non-Verizon customers.

Snap is also working with Orange in France and EE in the UK, with pricing for those carrier plans still to come.

SPECS arrive this fall

SPECS are available to pre-order now for $2,195 with a $200 refundable deposit. Snap expects the glasses to begin shipping later this fall in the United States, United Kingdom, and France.

Before then, people in Los Angeles will get an opportunity to try them in person. Snap’s SPECS First Look experience opens at Westfield Century City on October 1, giving visitors a chance to experience the glasses and the growing collection of AR Lenses.

The interesting part of SPECS isn’t simply that Snap has managed to put an AR computer into a pair of glasses. The company’s larger bet is that computing can become something that sits alongside the real world instead of constantly pulling people away from it.

With SPECS Intelligence adding persistent personal context and the developer ecosystem expanding around Snap’s AR platform, Snap is now trying to make its glasses into a new computing platform rather than another companion accessory for a phone.