Apple smart glasses have a secret weapon against Meta Ray-Bans — and it’s Tim Cook’s ‘next big thing’
As Apple reportedly doubles its efforts to bring in a trifecta of AI wearables, its anticipated smart glasses are at the forefront to take on Meta Ray-Bans. And it already has just the feature to do so: Visual Intelligence.
The rumored Apple AI Glasses will rely on the company’s visual AI to “see” the world, as pointed out by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Part of Apple Intelligence, Visual Intelligence can look at objects, read text and get information about them. And it’s fittingly gearing up to be heavily integrated into Apple’s first take on smart specs. The headline of Gurman’s piece calls this Apple’s “next big thing.”
Visual Intelligence is surely set to power Apple’s next era of AI devices, and it’s looking like we’ll see it in action in AI smart glasses first. If this is the case, it will be the first big stepping stone to take on the best smart glasses on the market today — catching up to the likes of the latest Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
What is Apple Visual Intelligence?
Apple’s Visual Intelligence is an AI feature that lets users analyze the on-screen content and the world around them through the camera. It can recognize objects and offer information about them, answer questions about what it sees, allow real-time translation, instant web searches and more.
It was first introduced on the iPhone 16 Pro, and is available from the iPhone 15 Pro and up. It relies on OpenAI’s ChatGPT for results, and it’s become a quick way to find out details on anything you take a picture of.
Essentially, it’s Apple’s version of Google Lens, and it makes sense that this Apple Intelligence feature would come to the Cupertino tech giant’s rumored smart glasses. Interestingly, though, it’s looking to be the main feature powering the specs.
Visual Intelligence takes the lead
During Apple’s earnings call, Gurman notes that CEO Tim Cook heavily hinted at his interest in Visual Intelligence, which is a clear sign that there’s more to come from the feature:
“One of our most popular features is Visual Intelligence, which helps users learn and do more than ever with the content on their iPhone screen, making it faster to search, take action and answer questions across their apps,” Cook stated.
With word of Apple’s potential AI wearables all fitted with cameras, including an AI pendant and AI AirPods, it makes sense that Apple would utilize a technology it’s already using. And it’s also set to improve.
According to the report, Apple is working on its own AI visual models, which could coincide with the eventual release of Siri 2.0 in 2026. These would take full advantage of the expected built-in cameras in the smart glasses, which are tipped to be used to snap photos and record video.
However, rumor has it that there will be a high-resolution camera in the Apple AI smart glasses for pictures and video, along with one dedicated to Visual Intelligence.
If Apple does make Visual Intelligence on its smart specs a priority, it would be interesting to see what other features it could offer in a new form factor that isn’t an iPhone.
With the tools that Apple’s Visual Intelligence offers on smart glasses, this still wouldn’t be a bold new feature coming to specs, as Meta already has its own form of visual AI onboard.
As with the Ray-Ban Meta (gen 2) and Meta Ray-Ban Display, these specs are able to “see” what you’re looking at — able to identify objects and bring up information about them and answer questions. They can also help with navigation in maps, which is handy (but there’s still a bit more improvement to be done in that area). And yes, you can expect these features on Google’s Android XR glasses, too.
Regardless, bringing Visual Intelligence to the anticipated Apple Glasses is a no-brainer, and it shows the Cupertino team already has the means to deliver smart specs to catch up with the competition when it’s tipped to arrive at the end of 2026 or 2027.
Cook seems certain that Visual Intelligence will flourish, and Apple’s smart glasses look to be the device to show off this vision. In the meantime, find out how to put Visual Intelligence to good use on your iPhone.
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