Apple Glasses suddenly make so much sense after this new reveal

Apple Glasses are a high priority for Apple, so much so that the company has reportedly paused development of a lighter Vision Pro to focus on the Glasses product. A new rumor has helped make a lot of sense of that move, and has me more excited than ever for Apple Glasses.

visionOS could run on Apple Glasses, with full version unlocked by a nearby Mac

This weekend in his Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman shared more details related to his recent reporting on the future of Apple Glasses products.

Mark Gurman writes at Bloomberg:

The smart glasses are also likely to run the Vision Pro’s operating system, visionOS, so all the work on that software isn’t going to waste. A future device could operate the full version of the OS when it’s paired with a Mac, and then switch to a lighter, more mobile-friendly interface when it’s linked to an iPhone, I’m told.

These details have me very excited, and also make a lot of sense of Apple’s overall head-mounted wearable strategy.

It’s seemed likely for years that AR glasses could be an iPhone-level technology revolution.

Apple Vision Pro was created as a unique AR/VR hybrid, and many assumed that its existence was a key stepping stone toward the eventual glasses form factor.

But the advent of AI and products like Meta’s smart glasses have led Apple to reportedly pivot.

Rather than progressively shrinking Vision Pro into a glasses-sized product, the company intends to ship AI glasses that, perhaps one day, could offer true AR functionality.

This latest report, however, shows a clear path forward.

Spatial computing via Apple Glasses might not be too far off

Apple Glasses will likely run a stripped-down version of visionOS, but per Gurman’s sources, a future model will be able to unlock full visionOS functionality when paired with a Mac.

Prior rumors around Apple’s headset and glasses plans made reference to models that would tap into extra power when connected to a Mac. But those reports always made it seem, to me at least, like Apple was just throwing every idea at the wall to see what stuck.

Now though, this idea of a Mac-paired wearable, combined with the fruits of Vision Pro and visionOS, all seem truly essential to Apple Glasses. Not just some years-away version of the product, but even one of the first iterations.

If I can wear Apple Glasses out and about, getting AI functionality, cameras, and so on, that sounds intriguing.

But if that same product can provide access to visionOS when sitting at home or in a coffee shop with my Mac—that could be a true game-changer.

That ‘vision’ of spatial computing sounds like one that I could wholeheartedly get behind.

What do you think of the latest Apple Glasses rumor related to visionOS? Let us know in the comments.

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