Apple smart glasses will be built around Siri AI and its new third-party app integrations, according to a new report. The glasses will not run apps on their own and will instead work largely as an accessory to your iPhone.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported in his Power On newsletter that Apple sees these Siri AI app integrations as the centerpiece of its glasses push. Apple opened the Siri AI developer preview in the iOS 27.3 beta on November 3, and App Store apps can start using it in the spring, well ahead of the glasses.
Apple smart glasses run on your iPhone
The glasses will depend on a nearby iPhone for apps instead of running them directly. They will still have Wi-Fi, so some features outside third-party apps, such as audio playback, can keep working when your iPhone is not close by. Under current plans, the glasses will need a recent iPhone and will not work with Android phones.
Apple is betting that Siri AI apps will be the main reason to buy its glasses, which puts much of the work on the apps you already use. In the iOS 27.3 beta, Siri AI can run an app’s own actions, such as checking a delivery or booking a reservation, and a range of these integrations is expected to be ready by the time the glasses go on sale.
Developers will not need to build separate apps for the glasses. They can make specific features in their existing iPhone apps available to Siri AI, which lets you finish a task by voice without opening the app.
Apple’s ideas include booking a table through OpenTable or getting a ride from Uber or Lyft. You could also order Starbucks coffee or buy movie tickets through Fandango, as long as each app supports the Siri integration.
The everyday features of the glasses will run through Apple’s own apps, without any help from outside developers.
- Visual Intelligence can identify buildings and suggest what to cook from the ingredients in your fridge.
- Maps gives you directions as you get around town.
- You can make phone calls and answer messages.
- Your iPhone notifications come through the glasses.
- The glasses can translate conversations and signs.
- You can manage your calendar and create standard and visual reminders.
- You can control music and smart home devices.
Thin frames and a custom chip
Apple’s glasses are expected to look similar to the Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer, and Gurman says internal prototypes are slightly thinner than Meta’s second-generation Ray-Ban glasses. On some test units, the cameras sit in oval openings that are flush with the frame instead of sticking out.
A light on the front of the glasses shows when they are in use or charging. Apple has also experimented with other front-facing features related to privacy.
Prototypes charge through a magnetic three-pin connector about the size of a Tic Tac, which attaches near the tip of the left arm. Apple testers can wear the glasses while they charge, though the connector may not make it to the final product.
Internal prototypes run a pared-down version of visionOS 28 on a custom processor based on Apple’s older Apple Watch chips. The glasses also have custom wireless parts and an engine that processes what the cameras see in real time.
Apple keeps third-party apps on the iPhone to make up for the limited computing power and memory in the glasses. The company took the same approach with its first Apple Watch.
Apple has made audio a major focus for the glasses, and employees describe the sound quality as industry-leading. You can use the glasses for phone calls, music and FaceTime audio.
Like Google’s new Intelligent Eyewear, Apple’s first glasses will skip a display and will not overlay images on what you see. Apple employees call the device “AirPods for your face” for that reason.
Unveiling expected at WWDC 2027
Apple is expected to unveil the glasses at WWDC 2027 and start shipping them before the end of 2027. The software is running behind, and Gurman says delays are possible even though the schedule still stands. Apple is also building AirPods with cameras that feed what they see to Siri, and that product is still on track for late 2027.
Meta now sells the Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 3) from $449, a generation newer than the model Apple’s prototypes are measured against. Google’s Intelligent Eyewear works with the iPhone 13 Pro and newer and goes on sale on December 10, starting at $395.
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