Apple is speeding up development of three new AI-focused wearable devices, including smart glasses, as part of its push into artificial intelligence-powered hardware.
The company is intensifying efforts on smart glasses, a compact AI pendant that can clip onto clothing or be worn as a necklace, and AirPods enhanced with advanced AI features, Bloomberg News‘ Mark Gurman reports Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the initiatives. Each of these products centers on a revamped LLM Siri digital assistant, which will leverage visual context from built-in cameras to perform tasks and provide more intelligent responses.
The AirPods and pendant are envisioned as simpler offerings, equipped with lower-resolution cameras designed to help the AI work rather than for taking photos or videos. The glasses, meanwhile, will be more upscale and feature-rich.
The company is preparing a version of the assistant for iOS 27, due later this year, that will feature a chatbot-like interface. Apple will rely on underlying models co-developed with Alphabet Inc.’s Google.
The smart glasses are planned to be positioned as an advanced offering in the company’s AI hardware lineup, intended to compete with Meta’s camera-equipped eyewear. They would include a high-resolution camera capable of capturing photos and video.
Apple has made significant progress in recent months on its glasses, code-named N50, and has recently distributed a broader set of prototypes within its hardware engineering division. The company is targeting the start of production as early as December, ahead of a public release in 2027.
Like most of Meta’s current offerings, the glasses won’t include a display. Instead, the interface will rely on speakers, microphones and cameras — letting users make phone calls, access Siri, take actions based on surroundings, play music and take photos. Apple aims to differentiate the product in two key areas: build quality and camera technology… Apple decided to develop its own frames in-house in a variety of sizes and colors.
MacDailyNews Take: While we’re most interested in Apple’s future-gen smart glasses with augmented reality displays, but this first step will be important. Everything that’s coming hinges on Siri – precariously, given the long-neglected state of Siri currently. We do continue to hear good things – Very Good Things™ – about LLM Siri from our little birdies.
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