Will Apple’s Smart Glasses Come With a Ring Light Around the Camera?

Reliable Apple insider Mark Gurman has shed some light on Apple’s upcoming smart glasses. Among the most eye-catching features is the camera system that’s currently under consideration.

As excitement around the smart glasses market builds, one of the major criticisms is the creepy users who utilize the camera to clandestinely record other people. Here’s what Gurman says about Apple’s slated camera: “One notable detail under consideration is the camera system: vertically oriented oval lenses with surrounding lights, a departure from the circular design seen in Meta’s products.”

The interesting detail there is the “surrounding lights.” The Meta Ray-Bans have a light that blinks, but it’s easy to miss and can even be disabled or blocked. The description of the Apple light makes it sound almost like a ring light, the sort that a beauty influencer might use. A circular light like that would make it a lot more difficult to miss. This is something Apple might see as desirable given all the negative press surrounding so-called glassholes.

Away from the camera, Gurman reports that Apple will depart from its rivals in one crucial aspect: it will design the entire package in-house. That is not surprising given that this is the route Apple always takes, but consider that Meta works closely with EssilorLuxottica, makers of Ray-Ban, and both Google and Samsung are reportedly working with Warby Parker for their own offerings. Apple’s ability to design software and hardware together has always given it an advantage, and it will look to press it again, much in the same way it did with the Apple Watch. “Not first to market, but ultimately dominant,” as Gurman puts it.

Apple’s foray into smart glasses will also not include a screen in the lens, like the Meta Ray-Ban Displays. Gurman notes that Apple didn’t start working on this concept until around 2022. But Meta’s strong performance in this category has turned heads inside Apple, and it now expects to release a product of its own at the end of the year, or perhaps 2027. It’s currently code-named N50.

Naturally, Apple is exploring different colors and frames. The crucial thing for the Californian company, Gurman explains, is to create a design that is instantly recognizable as an Apple product, the way AirPods and the Apple Watch are.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.