Apple is shifting course in its wearable tech roadmap, aiming to launch its first pair of smart glasses by 2026. The company has halted development of a camera-equipped Apple Watch, choosing instead to focus on hardware that aligns more closely with its long-term artificial intelligence and augmented reality strategy.

The glasses are expected to serve as a lightweight, AI-driven companion for everyday use, positioned more for ambient computing than immersive entertainment.

While Apple has led in smartphones and tablets, it now finds itself trailing in the wearables race for smart glasses. Meta, with its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses already on the market, has taken an early lead in combining AR features with AI voice assistance. The company’s planned entry is not a first-mover play, but a calculated response designed to catch up with, and ultimately surpass Meta through superior integration, privacy, and design.

Why It Matters: Apple’s pivot to smart glasses highlights how even the most dominant tech companies must sometimes play defense. Meta has gained real-world traction in AR glasses, and Apple now finds itself working to close that gap. The success or failure of Apple’s delayed entry could reshape the power dynamics in the next era of personal computing, where wearables powered by AI are the battleground.

• Smart Glasses as Apple’s Response to Meta: Apple’s upcoming AR glasses are widely seen as a direct answer to Meta’s Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which have already established a foothold by combining stylish frames with built-in cameras and Meta AI. Apple aims to differentiate with a privacy-focused, deeply integrated product that works seamlessly within the iOS ecosystem, though it arrives years later than Meta’s offering.

• Camera Watch Scrapped Amid Strategic Refocus: After experimenting internally with a camera-equipped Apple Watch, Apple has decided to abandon the project. Concerns over bulkiness, battery life, and unclear user demand made the concept untenable. This move frees up resources for devices like smart glasses that offer broader potential for daily utility and AI integration.

• Chasing, But Aiming to Leapfrog: Apple may be late to market, but its track record shows a pattern of entering categories late, and dominating through polish and ecosystem strength. The smart glasses are expected to feature enhanced on-device AI, contextual Siri, and possibly visual overlays for navigation, notifications, or object recognition, setting the stage for a higher-end user experience compared to Meta’s early, socially-driven wearables.

• AirPods as a Bridge Device: Before launching the glasses, Apple is likely to debut new AirPods with built-in cameras, which could offer basic AR and spatial features. This intermediate step may serve to acclimate users to AI-infused wearables and test software capabilities ahead of the glasses’ 2026 debut.

• VisionOS as Apple’s AR Platform Anchor: Apple’s continued investment in VisionOS, the software powering the Vision Pro headset, suggests that the glasses will leverage a modular or adapted version of this system. This software continuity will be key to differentiating Apple’s glasses from Meta’s more fragmented Horizon and Android-based solutions.

Go Deeper -> Apple Plans Glasses for 2026 as Part of AI Push, Nixes Watch With Camera – Bloomberg