TECH NEWS – While Meta seems to be quite close to the public launch of its own product (Meta Orion was mentioned a few days ago), the Cupertino-based company is even further behind.

Apple has made a rather risky move with the release of the Apple Vision Pro AR headset, which sells for a minimum of $3,500. After that, smartphone glasses would be a logical next step, but that won’t happen anytime soon, as it won’t be released until 2027. Until then, however, another product is in the pipeline that could lead the way: this would combine AirPods (with AI capabilities) and camera modules.

The Apple Vision Pro is just the tip of the company’s augmented reality (AR) iceberg. Apple CEO Tim Cook has admitted that smart glasses would be a key technology for them, but they are still too elusive. One of the biggest hurdles is developing a chip that can deliver the performance of the iPhone while using 1/10th of the power. This is currently an impossible task. However, Bloomberg editor Mark Gurman wrote in his Power On newsletter that the new AirPods will help make smart glasses a reality: they will also have cameras to give the user information about the outside world, and artificial intelligence (Apple Intelligence) will not be left out.

According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities, AirPods with camera modules will also be created, but mass production will not start until 2026. They will have better spatial sound. Smart glasses, on the other hand, are still several years away, according to the timeline, and there could be many bumps in the road between now and then, so Meta, for example, could just benefit from Apple’s situation.

Gurman says that won’t be the case, and that the version of Meta Orion shown is a prototype that is 3-5 years away from release. Apple has never shown such early versions of its products, so it doesn’t want to raise false hopes. Meta may only have the advantage of having announced its plans earlier…

Source: WCCFTech