Apple to Halt Augmented Reality Glasses Development Indefinitely

Apple's Augmented Reality (AR) glasses are going to development hell.

The Cupertino-based tech giant reportedly postponed the development of its AR glasses, dubbed Apple Glasses, indefinitely due to technical challenges, per a Bloomberg report.

Apple previously announced it was working on the Apple Glasses sometime in 2019 but encountered a delay in November 2022 due to "design issues," per Tom's Guide.

Apple Glasses Indefinite Postponement Details

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman mentioned in his report that Apple hoped it could release the Apple Glasses after the debut of its AR/VR headset that mixes AR and VR reality. It also wished that the Apple Glasses could be one of its big moneymakers due to the race to create more AR/VR-capable devices.

However, because of the design and technical challenges the company was experiencing during the device's development, it would instead release a lower-cost version of the mixed-reality headset as soon as 2024 or 2025.

Unfortunately, Gurman's anonymous sources didn't mention what kind of technical challenges Apple encountered during the development of its Apple Glasses, and as such, we could only speculate that the development of these glasses must have been too complex for Apple to release at any time soon.

Apple is the latest company to be a victim of disappointing results in AR glasses. You may remember that Google previously released its Google Glass device sometime in the early 2010s that seemed to function similarly to Apple's AR glasses.

According to Screenrant, the device offered a hands-free means of viewing content and performing tasks, allowing users to take photos, phone calls, and access social media platforms like Facebook with only a voice command.

Unfortunately, its $1,500 price tag and underwhelming reception from consumers forced Google to cease producing the consumer version of Google Glass. The device still lives on in the corporate world, allowing employees to attend group conferences, increase their output quality, and get jobs done faster, and safer, per Google.

According to an Engadget report, it is now unclear if the Apple Glasses, which was previously touted to be the replacement for the iPhone, will ever see the light of day as a tangible Apple product.

What Does This Mean For Other AR Glasses?

The indefinite postponement of APPle Glasses' development doesn't look good for its contemporaries. According to The Verge, it is difficult to imagine that Google's next consumer AR glasses, dubbed Project Iris, or the Meta Glasses Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reported hoped to launch in 2024, will be available in store shelves soon.

However, these two devices could be faring better than the Apple Glasses, thanks to alternative approaches.

Pocket Lint mentioned in its report that Google would be testing the prototypes of its consumer AR glasses in the public in September. The publication reported that this test would determine how it would impact people's lives and to better understand how its AR navigation features will handle the weather.

Meanwhile, Meta has already started giving a set of the first version of its AR glasses to developers and early adopters, which are its target market in the first place.