• According to respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is looking at a 2026/2027 launch window for its AR/MR smartglasses.
• This as the company is looking to begin mass production on an emerging technology to replace the plastic lenses in its devices.
• Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman previously indicated that Apple had postponed its Apple Glasses plans in favour of its Reality Pro VR headset.

The highly publicised death of Google Glass led many a company to rethink their position on augmented reality (AR)-powered glasses. Yet despite the shuttering of Glass, companies like Lenovo and Snap are pushing forward with their “smartglasses” offering.

Apple is seemingly also looking to get into the AR glasses market, according to a report from respectable tipster Ming-Chi Kuo. Apple has been working on a powerful VR headset under the “Reality Pro” monicker, but the device alluded to by Kuo is the much-rumoured “Apple Glasses.”

According to Kuo, Apple’s supply chain is expected to begin mass production of a new “metalens” which will be replacing the iPad’s plastic lens included in the Face ID system.

Metalenses are an emerging technology, described by this Harvard University paper as a flat surface that uses nanostructures to focus light. The tech will apparently replace existing plastic lenses or LiDAR systems in cameras.

Apple Insider contends that this technology will eventually replace the usual plastic lenses found in smartphone cameras. Kuo says that if the technology is successful, it will become more mainstream by 2028 to 2030.

The new metalens technology is being manufactured with three long-term strategic goals from the Cupertino, California-based tech giant.

These are, according to Kuo:

• “Reduce reliance on existing plastic lenses,
• Leverage metalens’ technological and cost advantages for product design and sales, and,
• Facilitate the extensive use of metalens in Apple Glasses which will go into mass production in 2026 or 2027 at the earliest.”

This means that Apple is looking to launch the Apple Glasses as an AR, mixed reality (MR) headset, which is not the Reality Pro near the end of the decade.

Kuo is often at the front of several authentic tips when it comes to Apple products, and this latest information about the Apple Glasses is likely to be true. However, Apple could decide to change its plans in the next five or so years.

Bloomberg’s resident insider Mark Gurman reported in January that Apple was postponing its Apple Glasses plan and would be focusing its efforts on its virtual reality headset instead. Originally, the company was looking at 2025 as the Glasses release window.

Gurman also said that all rumours up to that point about the Glasses, including what they looked like, or what they were for, were false. Reports indicate that the company will finally show off its Reality Pro at the upcoming WWDC event to be held on 5th June.