Apple is experimenting with multiple smart-glasses prototypes designed to compete directly with Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported in his Power On newsletter in April 2026. The prototypes span several frame styles, with Apple engineers testing different materials, camera placements, and indicator-light configurations as the company works toward a product that could match or surpass what Meta and its eyewear partner EssilorLuxottica already sell to millions of customers.
The report marks Apple’s most concrete step yet toward lightweight, AI-powered eyewear, a product category that has moved well past the experimental phase. It also sets up a direct collision between the two most valuable technology companies in the world over a device many in the industry believe will eventually replace the smartphone as the primary way people interact with computing.
Meta’s head start is real and measurable
Apple would not be entering an empty market. Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, which pack cameras, open-ear speakers, and a voice-activated AI assistant into frames that look like ordinary sunglasses, have become a genuine commercial hit. EssilorLuxottica’s first-half 2025 financial results showed Ray-Ban Meta revenue more than tripled year over year, a figure disclosed in the company’s audited investor materials and reported by CNBC. That kind of growth turned what started as a niche gadget into one of the fastest-expanding product lines in EssilorLuxottica’s portfolio.
Meta has also signaled that smart glasses are central to its long-term hardware strategy, not a side project. At its Connect developer conference, the company unveiled a next-generation model with a built-in display and demonstrated a neural wristband designed to work alongside the glasses, as the Associated Press reported. During Meta’s Q2 2025 earnings call, executives described the glasses partnership as a key pillar of the company’s hardware roadmap, with plans for repeated product cycles and deeper AI integration. Apple, in other words, would be challenging a competitor that is investing aggressively and shipping new versions on a regular cadence.
What the prototypes suggest about Apple’s ambitions
According to Gurman’s reporting, Apple is testing several distinct frame designs, a sign the company is still in the industrial-design phase and has not locked in a final form factor. That process typically involves evaluating how much technology can be embedded in a pair of glasses without making them too heavy, too bulky, or too short on battery life. The fact that multiple styles are in play also suggests Apple wants to appeal to fashion-conscious consumers who already wear prescription or designer frames, not just early-adopter tech enthusiasts.
That ambition tracks with Apple’s history. The company entered the watch market in 2015 not just with a gadget but with a range of case materials, band options, and price tiers designed to make the Apple Watch feel like jewelry as much as technology. A similar approach to glasses would mean competing with Meta not only on specs but on style, an area where Meta benefits enormously from EssilorLuxottica’s decades of expertise in making frames people actually want to put on their faces.
Apple’s existing work in the space offers some clues about its technical direction. The company released Vision Pro, a mixed-reality headset, in early 2024, but that device occupies a completely different category: it is large, expensive (starting at $3,499), and designed primarily for indoor use. Reports of sluggish Vision Pro sales have fueled speculation that Apple sees lightweight glasses as a more practical path to mainstream wearable computing. Gurman’s report positions the glasses project as a separate product line, far more portable and socially acceptable for all-day wear than a ski-goggle-style headset.
Big questions Apple has not answered
Apple has not publicly acknowledged the glasses project, and no pricing, feature details, or release timeline has been disclosed. That silence is standard for Apple, which rarely confirms products before they are ready to announce, but it leaves significant gaps in what anyone outside the company can say with confidence.
The most consequential unknown is whether Apple’s glasses will include a display. Meta’s lineup spans models with and without screens at different price points. A camera-and-audio-only pair of Apple glasses would be a fundamentally different product than one with augmented-reality overlays projected onto the lens. Display-equipped glasses demand more power, more complex optics, and tighter weight constraints. Camera-and-audio models can prioritize battery life and comfort. Gurman’s report does not specify which direction Apple’s prototypes lean, and the company may be testing both approaches simultaneously.
Software and AI integration present another open question. Meta’s glasses run Meta AI, handling voice queries, object identification, and real-time translation through heavy cloud processing. Apple would presumably build on its own Siri infrastructure and the on-device intelligence capabilities it has been expanding across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Whether Apple’s more privacy-oriented, on-device approach can deliver the same speed and visual understanding as Meta’s cloud-first model is something no one outside Apple’s labs can evaluate yet. No details about an operating system, app ecosystem, or developer tools for the glasses have surfaced.
Then there is the manufacturing question. Meta’s success depends heavily on EssilorLuxottica’s global optical retail network, brand recognition, and ability to integrate prescription lenses. That partnership gives Meta distribution reach and design credibility that a pure technology company would struggle to replicate overnight. Whether Apple plans to build frames in-house, partner with an established eyewear manufacturer, or acquire optical design talent has not been reported. Each path carries trade-offs in design control, profit margins, and speed to market.
Privacy is another area where Apple will face scrutiny. Camera-equipped glasses raise persistent questions about bystander consent, data storage, and surveillance, concerns that dogged Google Glass a decade ago and have resurfaced with every new wearable camera since. Apple has built much of its brand around user privacy, but translating that reputation into a device with outward-facing cameras worn in public spaces will require concrete policy decisions the company has not yet disclosed.
A market that no longer needs proving
What has changed since earlier attempts at smart glasses, including Google Glass’s high-profile stumble in 2013 and Snap’s limited-run Spectacles, is that Meta and EssilorLuxottica have demonstrated real consumer demand at scale. The tripling of Ray-Ban Meta revenue is not a projection or an analyst estimate; it is an audited financial result from one of the world’s largest eyewear companies. That data point matters because it means Apple would be entering a market with proven and growing sales, not betting on a category that still needs to convince people to buy.
The competitive landscape extends beyond Meta, too. Google has been developing its own smart-glasses platform under the Android XR banner, and Samsung has signaled interest in the category through its partnership with Google. If Apple does bring glasses to market, it would be joining a three-way race among the largest technology platforms, each with different strengths in hardware, software, AI, and distribution.
Prototypes are not products, but the signal is hard to ignore
For now, the most grounded reading of the evidence is straightforward: Apple is seriously investing in smart-glasses prototypes aimed at the segment where Meta has proven there is money to be made. The underlying market is no longer theoretical. But the exact design, capabilities, price, and timing of Apple’s entry remain unknown, and prototypes do not always become products. Apple has shelved ambitious hardware projects before when they failed to meet internal standards on usability, battery life, or manufacturing feasibility. The strongest signals to watch for next are not leaks or speculation but filings, supplier agreements, and on-the-record disclosures from the companies building this technology.
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*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
