Appleinsider Mark Gurman reveals in the latest edition of his newsletter Power On that CEOTim Cookhas a new obsession. Sources from within the company report that Cook is focused on beating Meta to the market with an industry-leading pair of smart AR (Augmented Reality) glasses.

Apple’s foray into the XR (Extended Reality) industry did not go smoothly. Though the Apple Vision Pro is one of the best AR headsets available today it failed to meet sales expectations. This was mostly due to the fact that the headset costs $3,499 and even more in other regions outside the U.S.

Nevertheless Apple is convinced — much like Meta, Samsung and Google — that XR is the future of computing. The company has been working on a pair of smart AR glasses for a long time. In fact theApple Vision Pro was a compromisedue to the technological limitations of today. Apple just wanted to get a foot in the door as otherVR headsetslike theMeta Quest 3gained popularity.

But the dream of smart AR glasses — capable of good battery life and intuitive operation — is nearing reality. Last year Meta unveiled Orion: a pair of AR smart glasses that the company has been working towards for a decade. Orion is what Meta hopes to make publicly available some day in the near future. The idea is a pair of glasses that completely replace traditional smartphones.

— Power On, April 2025