Apple may offer four different frames for its first smart glasses. The company is said to be trialling multiple shapes and colours ahead of a 2027 roll-out.

Designs on the table

Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman says Apple is evaluating four distinct designs for what would be its first mass-market smart glasses. The shapes reportedly under consideration range from large rectangular frames to slimmer rectangular frames — the latter similar to the specs often worn by Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive. Two oval-style options are also said to be in the mix: one larger, one smaller.

Apple seems to be aiming to fit different face shapes and style preferences.

Colour choices and hardware hints

Gurman adds that Apple has been testing colour options as well — black, ocean blue and light brown are among the finishes mentioned. That detail matters because a wearables play needs to feel like a clothing purchase; colour and frame choice are part of the pitch.

The phones of functions come next. The glasses are reportedly not planned to include any head-up displays.

Instead, they’d focus on simpler functions: taking photos and video via oval camera lenses, handling calls, playing audio and interacting with an upgraded Siri.

These glasses aren’t meant to be another Vision Pro. They sound closer to Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses in how they put camera, audio and voice features first rather than full mixed‑reality visuals. Apple seems to be shifting away from an earlier, broader ambition that covered different types of mixed and augmented reality devices and moving toward something more wearable and, perhaps, easier to ship and sell.

How this fits into Apple’s strategy

Right now, apple’s headset effort has already taken several public turns. The Vision Pro arrived as a premium device with spatial computing features and a price tag to match. Its reception — which the TechCrunch piece summarises as lacklustre — appears to have changed some internal thinking about what the company should try to sell to everyday customers.

That rethink seems to have produced a narrower brief. Rather than building displays into a fashionable frame straight away, Apple is reportedly prioritising camera and audio features plus phone integration. The idea seems to be: make something lighter, less flashy and more like a normal pair of glasses.

Mastheads

This approach might help Apple reach a wider audience. The Vision Pro was aimed at early adopters with deep pockets. Frames that look ordinary — but add phone-like functions — are a different product. They’re easier to wear for long stretches. They’re less tied to a single, high price point. And they slot closer to the kind of accessory many people already buy.

Timeline: a possible unveiling and a 2027 launch

Gurman says Apple could unveil the glasses near the end of this year with a plan to sell them in 2027. The launch timetable would put these glasses far behind the original whispers about a whole family of Apple AR and mixed‑reality devices, but it would still give Apple a presence in the growing wearable camera category.

This timeline gives Apple plenty of time to refine the product. It gives Apple room to refine the design, sort supply chains and pitch the product to accessory-focused retail partners — all important tasks for a new hardware category.

Comparisons and market context

Meta’s Ray-Ban collaboration is the obvious comparison. Those glasses pair a well-known frame brand with basic camera and voice features; they’ve positioned themselves as an add-on you can wear every day. As reported, Apple’s glasses would follow a similar course, though Apple’s take would likely come with tighter integration into the iPhone ecosystem and an upgraded Siri meant to handle more natural queries.

Still, Apple’s angle might differ on one point: Apple tends to push for higher margins and tighter hardware-software integration. Even if Apple skips onboard displays, it could distinguish the product with camera quality, battery design, case features or software tricks that tie the glasses back to iPhones and iCloud.

Why Apple might choose multiple frames

From a retail perspective, offering several frame shapes makes sense. Glasses are intimate purchases; fit, look and colour all matter. Offering different sizes and styles could help Apple avoid the trap of making a single look that only appeals to a few people. It’s also a way to test demand across style categories before committing to large-scale production.

Also, fashion trends evolve quicker than chip development cycles. By testing frames and colours now, Apple could lock down the degrees of freedom that matter most to buyers — and then package the internals in different shells later.

It would be smart to create one internal platform and customize the frames for different markets.

What they won’t do — and what they might

Gurman’s report makes clear the glasses aren’t meant to be a second Vision Pro. They’re not slated to have integrated displays. Instead they’ll lean on cameras, microphones and voice assistants while keeping a look that’s closer to everyday eyewear.

Apple might be deliberately keeping the design simple. A display adds cost, complexity and battery strain. It also invites questions about privacy and public comfort in wearing a device that blends the virtual into the real. By sticking to camera and audio features, Apple might avoid some of those issues while still giving iPhone users new ways to capture moments and interact with Siri without pulling out a handset.

Loose ends and what we don’t yet know

There are still plenty of unknowns. Price, battery life, exact camera specs and the depth of Siri’s upgrade are all missing from the current picture. Apple’s supply chain and manufacturing choices — which can make or break a launch — are also unclear from the available reporting.

And there’s the user interface question: how will people control the glasses? Touch on the frame, voice commands, companion iPhone app, head gestures — we don’t have the detail yet. What we do have is a sense that Apple is testing many permutations before making a final call.

That caution fits Apple’s pattern. The company often spends years iterating on design and software before shipping a product. Sometimes it cancels projects. Other times it waits until the market catches up. Either way, testing multiple frames now suggests Apple wants options.

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Mark Gurman reported Apple could unveil the glasses late this year and aims to sell them in 2027.

This article was created with AI assistance.