Apple Analyst Predicts Launch Timeline Of Highly-Anticipated AR Glasses — Will It Be Worth The Wait?

Apple Inc. AAPL is reportedly planning to launch its highly-anticipated augmented reality-enabled smart glasses in either 2026 or 2027. 

What Happened: On Thursday, Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities and popular Apple leaker, took to Twitter to share his latest predictions. 

Kuo said Apple is working on a new technology called “metalens” to replace plastic lens covers in future devices. “Metalens offers the advantages of lower cost and reduced height vs. existing plastic lenses.”

He said that the first appearance of metalens would begin with Face ID covers for the iPad Pro next year and potentially the iPhone in 2025 and 2026.  

See Also: Will We Miss Out On Next’ iPhone Moment?’ Apple Analysts See AR/MR Headset Hurdles

According to the supply chain sleuth, the technology will be eventually integrated into “Apple Glasses (not AR/MR headsets),” which will go into mass production in 2026 or 2027 at the earliest. 

Why It’s Important: In January, it was reported that Apple postponed the plans to launch AR glasses as a follow-up product after its first MR headset was released. The tech giant instead appears to be focusing on developing a cheaper version of the MR headset and launching it by 2024 or early 2025. 

Last month, Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL halted sales of its Glass Enterprise smart glasses. 

On the other hand, Meta Platforms Inc. META CEO Mark Zuckerberg has publicly expressed his aspirations for a Google Glass-like final form for the company’s smart glasses product line. 

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