// 9TO5MAC — MOBILE & WEB
My experience suggests Apple Glasses will only sell to existing eyeglasses wearers
No, I haven’t managed to get my hands on a prototype pair of Apple Glasses, but I now have experience of the rough equivalents of what we’re expecting from both a 1st- and 2nd-gen product.
In both cases, I could definitely see attractions, and I would absolutely upgrade to smart glasses if I wore conventional eyeglasses. But as someone who doesn’t, I can’t see the technology persuading me to do so …
The first-gen Apple Glasses expected to launch next year will not have a display, only audio output. It will be something akin to Ray-Ban Meta glasses, only probably without the photo and video capabilities. The camera will only be used to power the Visual Intelligence features.
Personally, I see this primarily as a stepping stone to a later, more sophisticated product with built-in displays. When I used the AI features in the Meta glasses, I found it very technologically impressive, but the novelty wore off very quickly and I didn’t find many practical uses.
The usefulness of this device will depend very much on the Apple Intelligence capabilities. I’ll certainly be interested to see whether Apple can make a convincing case for the first-gen device, but I find it very hard indeed to imagine the company would persuade non-eyeglass wearers to buy them.
The next generation, however, is expected to have a display. As a preview of this experience, I’ve been testing the Even Realities G2 smart glasses.
I said when I first tried them that they are an extremely impressive piece of technology. They really do feel like something from the future, and friends who’ve tried them have said the same.
At the time I began testing them, the UK was in the middle of a heat wave, so I was wearing sunglasses full time while outside anyway, and given how light these are, there was absolutely no downside to using these instead.
Again, the AI features give great demo and feel very sci-fi, but I didn’t really find much practical use for them. Instead, I found the glasses great for three things:
My question at the time was what would happen when autumn arrived and I wouldn’t otherwise be wearing any kind of glasses? Would the benefits prove sufficient that I would wear them anyway?