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Apple’s upcoming smart glasses could allow controls with hand gestures

Apple's Ray-Ban rival is shaping up to be something special.

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Apple is officially in the smart glasses race, and new details shared with MacRumors give us a clearer picture of what to expect from the company’s answer to the Meta Ray-Bans.

The glasses will pack two cameras. The first is a high-resolution shooter for capturing photos and videos you’d want to share. The function will be similar to what we get with Meta Ray-Bans.

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The second is a low-resolution wide-angle lens that reads hand gestures and feeds visual input to Siri. If you have used the Vision Pro, the gesture-based control will feel familiar. 

Apple is clearly betting big on this input method, and having seen Vision Pro’s excellent gesture detection, which is the best on any VR headset, I am not surprised. 

So, what’s missing from Apple’s smart glasses?

Quite a lot, actually, and that’s intentional. There’s no display, no LiDAR, no 3D cameras, and no augmented reality features in this first version. The reason? Battery life. 

Apple needs to keep the glasses slim and lightweight, and cramming in power-hungry hardware would make that impossible. The new glasses appear to be clearly targeting content creators and users who want to capture their life’s precious moments hands-free.

The glasses are also supposed to run a smarter version of Siri, the same one Apple plans to ship with iOS 27. You will be able to take photos, record video, make phone calls, and ask Siri questions about what’s around you. 

What will Apple’s smart glasses look like?

Apple is testing multiple styles and is reportedly using acetate, a lightweight and flexible plant-based material that’s more comfortable than regular plastic.

A preview could come later this year, with a full launch likely in 2027. I am excited for the new Apple glasses, as the Meta Ray-Bans have impressed me a lot. The only reason I didn’t purchase them is due to the numerous privacy risks associated with them, which have been exposed in the past few months. 

A normal pair of glasses with photo-capturing abilities and a built-in smart assistant that is also secure? Sign me up for it right now.

Rachit Agarwal
Rachit is a seasoned tech journalist with over ten years of experience covering the consumer technology landscape.
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