Gurman: Apple Delays Smart Glasses to 2027

The latest report from Bloomberg analyst Mark Gurman claims that Apple plans to disrupt the smart glasses market similarly to what it did previously in watches. But we won’t see the first Apple smart watch until at least late 2027, later than originally expected.

This could be lucrative for Apple, despite its stumbles with the bulky and overly-expensive VisionPro headset that’s essentially the foundation for this new work: As Gurman notes, there are 2.2 billion people worldwide with some form of vision impairment, and the eyewear market is worth $200 billion annually, with hundreds of millions of glasses sold each year. If Apple can snag even a small percentage of share, this could be worth more than the estimated $17 billion in revenues that the Apple Watch delivers.

Gurman says that the target this time is two-fold and includes Meta and, soon, Samsung/Google, but also mainstream, non-smart eyewear that sells from $200 to $500, a market that’s currently dominated by familiar brands like Ray-Ban, Oakley, Hugo Boss, and others. Apple’s approach will be familiar, with the company counting on its brand, industrial design, and deep iPhone integration to drive sales. Plus, Apple Intelligence AI capabilities, which are still largely unfulfilled when compared to the original 2024 promises.

The first Apple glasses will allegedly feature oval-shaped cameras and come in unique colors and multiple frame styles. Long-term, however, the company plans to evolve this product with health features, as it did with Apple Watch, and then add augmented reality (AR) functionality similar to Vision Pro. But Gurman doesn’t expect “true AR glasses” before the end of the decade, similar to the timeframe for a second-generation slimmer and lighter Vision Pro.

Gurman claims that Apple will be a “major force” in both glasses and sunglasses and that its entry into this market will “fundamentally alter how consumers think about buying glasses.” The issue? This fantasy won’t become a reality until late 2027, though Apple had originally hoped to ship its first glasses, codenamed N50, by the end of 2026. And even that might be generous, as the late 2027 schedule is for a launch, not a release.

Whatever the timing–I think we can safely blame Apple’s Siri and Apple Intelligence issues on at least some of the delays–it’s obvious that this is a market Apple could do well in: It’s more a lifestyle brand than a technology company these days, and billions of people buy glasses, many as fashion accessories. It’s certainly a better fit for this market, ahem, than Meta.