Apple is reportedly shifting its focus toward smart glasses, aiming to compete with Meta’s lead in the mixed reality (XR) market. Meta’s success with the Ray-Ban smart glasses, and more recently the futuristic Orion AR glasses, has pushed Apple to rethink its wearable tech strategy. Meta’s advances in AI and AR, showcased in Orion’s high-tech display and tracking systems, have raised the stakes.

Apple’s Vision Pro headset, while innovative, has been costly and limited in its mainstream appeal. Now, Apple aims to bring the same advanced tech seen in the Vision Pro to a more accessible, everyday product—smart glasses. According to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, Apple is working to integrate AI and XR tech into these glasses, potentially by 2027, with plans to rival Meta’s Orion with similar world-sensing abilities and a sleek design.

However, Apple isn’t rushing this release. Gurman highlights that Apple’s ultimate goal is to craft AR glasses that look and feel like regular eyewear while incorporating high-end tech such as eye tracking, high-performance lenses, and onboard computing systems. Meta is similarly working toward this vision but is ahead in the race. Their Orion glasses, with cutting-edge optics and field-of-view advancements, offer a glimpse of what Apple may be targeting in the coming years.

This move is essential for Apple to stay competitive in the expanding XR market, where Meta, alongside players like Xreal and Rokid, is setting the pace. It’ll be fascinating to see how Apple’s premium design ethos plays out against the rapid advancements in affordable, practical AR wearables already hitting the market.