Apple smart glasses four styles designed to look like normal frames

The Short Version

Reports say Apple is building lightweight smart glasses that look like normal eyewear, using iPhone processing power for AR features like notifications, navigation, and voice control.

Apple is testing at least four frame styles for its first smart glasses, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The designs include a large rectangular frame similar to classic Wayfarers, a slimmer rectangular frame in the style Tim Cook wears daily, and two oval or circular options in different sizes. Apple plans to launch several of them at once, with multiple color options including black, ocean blue, and light brown.

The frames are made from acetate, a material used in premium eyewear that's more durable and holds color better than standard plastic. Apple's internal goal, per Gurman, is for the glasses to be instantly recognizable as an Apple product, the same way AirPods and Apple Watch established their own visual identities.

The camera system is a deliberate departure from Meta's design. Apple is using vertically oriented oval lenses surrounded by indicator lights, compared to the circular camera modules on Ray-Ban Meta glasses. The first version has no display. The glasses handle photo and video capture, play music, relay notifications, and connect to Siri for voice commands and visual AI features. The glasses offload heavy processing to a paired iPhone via Bluetooth, which keeps the frames lightweight. The chip inside is based on Apple Watch architecture, optimized for all-day battery life and the heat constraints of wearing a computer on your face.

Apple is targeting a sub-50 gram weight. Production is set to begin in December 2026, with a public launch in spring or summer 2027. An announcement at the September iPhone 18 event is reportedly possible.

The glasses are part of a broader AI wearable push that also includes AirPods with cameras and an AI pendant. All three rely on the same upgraded Siri expected with iOS 27 this fall.

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