Apple postpones smart glasses to 2027, considers removing camera to safeguard privacy reputation

The delay

Apple is now aiming to unveil its first smart glasses at next June's Worldwide Developers Conference, with a consumer release by the end of 2027. The project, code-named N50, was previously on track for an introduction this year and a rollout in early 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, but was pushed back as teams grappled with privacy safeguards. The delay stems from internal turmoil over how to craft a privacy message that avoids the backlash engulfing Meta's smart glasses. Gurman reports that teams within Apple's Vision hardware group have made privacy their top priority, and the reveal has been shifted to WWDC 2027.

Privacy as priority

Apple has spent more than a decade building a reputation as the most privacy-conscious of the major tech companies. Entering the same product category as Meta, whose Ray-Ban smart glasses have sold over seven million pairs, threatens that standing. Meta's devices have been used to secretly film women in public, and Kenyan data workers were asked to review intimate footage captured by the glasses. Swedish investigators revealed that Meta exposed footage of users having sex and going to the bathroom to human moderators. The company also briefly added facial recognition software to some glasses users' phones without consent, Wired reported, before quietly removing it. Courtrooms in multiple jurisdictions have banned the devices. At a concert, the artist Lorde publicly trashed the glasses, drawing cheers from the audience. Apple executives are acutely aware that simply entering the same category risks undermining a privacy reputation the company has spent more than a decade building, according to Gurman.

The company has spent more than a decade making privacy one of its defining product messages. Simply entering the same category as Meta risks undermining that reputation, regardless of how Apple's approach differs.

Apple's response will include on-device processing rather than cloud-based analysis. It will reportedly forgo facial recognition entirely and will not offer anything akin to Meta's proposed "super sensing" mode, which would continuously analyse surroundings without activating a recording indicator light. Apple also does not plan to use customer recordings to train AI models, and it will avoid the practice of having contractors review footage, a measure introduced after a similar controversy around Siri voice assistant recordings. Gurman says that "the teams developing glasses within Apple's Vision hardware group and elsewhere in the company see privacy as priority No. 1."

The camera question

Apple is still debating whether its glasses should include a camera at all. One prototype eliminates the camera hardware entirely, retaining only hands-free Siri access, music playback, and phone calls. Another option includes a full camera system but permanently disables photo and video recording, limiting the cameras to feeding visual data into AI tools that identify objects and places. Both approaches would sacrifice the effortless first-person video of holidays, children, and sporting events that has made Meta's glasses popular. Gurman also notes that Apple could eventually release a version without a camera or with a camera exclusively for sensing, similar to what is rumored for its AI-enabled AirPods.

Wider product roadmap

The smart glasses launch is part of one of the most important product cycles in Apple's history. The company is also expected to introduce a 20th anniversary iPhone, a second-generation foldable device, camera-equipped AirPods, and new Macs during 2027. Meanwhile, Meta faces a class action lawsuit over its AI glasses, and the broader smart glasses market remains unsettled by ongoing privacy disputes.