Apple pushes smart glasses launch to 2027 over privacy

Apple is delaying the launch of its first smart glasses into 2027 as it grapples with significant privacy challenges facing the wearable camera category, according to a report. The company is now targeting an unveiling at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2027, with a consumer release by the end of that year.

The development teams within Apple’s Vision hardware group have reportedly made privacy their top priority, a focus driven by the backlash against rival products from Meta. Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, while commercially successful, have been linked to incidents of covert recording and harassment, sparking a class-action lawsuit and leading to bans in certain venues like New York courtrooms and cruise ship areas. This environment has created what one report describes as a "high-stakes reputational challenge" for Apple, which has spent over a decade building a brand around user privacy.

In response, Apple is prototyping a range of new hardware and software privacy features not found on its current products. The company plans to favor on-device data processing, avoid facial recognition technology, and steer clear of any continuous environmental analysis mode that...