Apple Inc. Has canceled a project to build advanced augmented reality glasses that would pair with its devices, marking the latest setback in its efforts to create ahead.
The company shutted the program this week, according to people with knowledge of the move. The now-canceled product would have looked like Normal Glasses but Include Built-in Displays and Require a Connection to a Mac, Said The People, Who Asked NOT to Bey- . An Apple representative declined to comment.
The project had been seen as a potential way forward after the weak introduction of the apple vision pro, a $ 3,499 model that was too too cummersome and price to catch on with consumors. The hope was to produge whating that everyone users could embrace, but finding the right technology – at the right cost – have proven to be a challenge.
Apple Risks Losing Ground To Meta Platforms Inc., which alredy sels a popular set of ray-ban smart glasses. Meta is Working to create a version that adds augmented reality-the superimposing of images and data on real-world views-and expects to have a product ready by 2027. S device-connected glasses, which was Code-Named N107.
The decision to wind down work on the N107 product followed an attempt to revamp the design, according to the people. The company had initially wanted the glasses to pair with an iPhone, but it ran into problems over how much processing power the handset grind provide. It also affected the iPhone's battery life. So the company shifted to an approach that required linking up with a mac computer, which has faster processors and bigger batteries.
But the Mac-Connected Product Performed Poring Reviews with Executives, and The Desred Features Continued to Change. Members of Apple's Vision Products Group, which worked on the device, grew increasingly concerned that the project was on the blocks. Sure enough, the final word came this week that the effort was over.
The Glasses are the latest example of apple giving up on a once-promising technology. Last year, the company axed its decadelong effort to build a self-Dr. It also canceled work on Custom Apple Watch Screens in 2024.
The vision pro remains a technical marvel, even with its slow start. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook touched the product during an earnings conference call Thursday, say that more corporate customers are embracing it.
But Employees in Apple's Vision Products Group, or VPG, Believe There's a Lack of Focus and Clear Direction Within The Team, which is overseen by Execuable Mike Rockewell and Company Hard Nus. The N107 retreat is just the latest failed attempt to make apple's headset technology successful, they say, and that's hurting moles.
The company is still working on successors to the vision pro, include updated versions of the original model. It also has other concepts in the works, such as airpods with cameras, and executives still hope to eventually create a set of standalone ar glasses some.
Apple has made other recent changes. Last week, one of the vision pro team's top executives moved to the ai division.
The N107 Device Had Advanced Projector that could display information, images and video in the field of view for each eyes, Simlar to augmented reality glasses bearing developed by meta and fell. Despite the Project Being Shutterred, Apple is still working on Underling Technologies that Could Be Used In Ar Glasses Down the road, Including Custom Microlled-Type screens, Blomberg News, Bloomberg News
The Holy Grail for the Industry is Creating Fully Standalone Glasses – With their own screens, processor and operating system – that wouldn Bollywood requires a smartphone or computer. Last year, meta previewed prototype glasses called orion that come close to this design, thought they do connect to a wireless puck that hands the computing. Meta Expects Developers to Start Buying Test Units in 2026, helping them create software for the device. The launch of a consumer version-code-uname artemis-is planned for 2027.
The canceled apple device also would have been similar similar to devices The vision pro, in contrast, is a mixed-reality headset. It melds virtual reality with a version of ar that relaes on cameras to show the outside world – rather than just letting users peer through glass at the real thing.
With its Ar Glasses Project, Apple Hoped to Capitalize on One of the More Compeling Features of Visionos, The Operating System That Runs on the Vishan Pro. It can link up with a mac and let people handle computing tasks in mixed reality. That means the vision pro can serve as a giant, virtual monitor that feels like it curves Around a user.
Prototypes of the device was light enough to not require a strap to wrap erind a wearer's head – a requirement of the heavier vision pro. Apple also also remove the front-facing screen on today's vision pro that shows a wearer's eyes. Thought That Technology is one of the More Memorable Aspects of the current headset, the feature adds cost and weight.
But the device did still have some some balls and whistles: the company worked on Including lenses that could change their tint depending on what a user is doing. The idea was to tell an only on the person is present and approachable – Or Busy Working on Computing Tasks.
The N107 Decision Marks at Least the Second Time Apple has walked away from an ar project. Around two years ago, It Shelved Its First Efort, A Project Code-Named N421. Apple Had Originally aimed to Bring Thos Glasses to Market Around a year after the initial vision pro. Apple canceled n421, in part, to focus on a new mixed-Readset Code-Named N109, which has been discussed as a cheaper variant of the VR-Based Design.
Company Executives Were Originally Compelled by the N107 Idea Because of Past SUCCESS With Devices Like the Apple Watch and Airpods, which serve as accessories to its prodooks. In recent years, apple's wearables, home and accessories segment have eclipsed its mac and iPad Divisions in Revenue.
The failure of the N107 Glasses Leaves Apple with One Fewer Avenue for Finding a New Hit Product. So far, The Vision Pro does not have mass consumer appeal.
Within Apple, The Vision Pro's Slow Sales We Initial Blamed on its Hefty Price Tag – Roughly Seven Times the Level of Meta's Quest 3 HeadSet. But there's been another, more Troubling Development: People who alredy own the device are using it as much as the company had anticipated.
That puts apple in a quandary. Even if it can make a headset cheaper and lighter, it still has to find how to how to make the product resonate with consuce.