Tim Cook was recently reported to be determined to bring out an Apple Glasses product ahead of Meta’s version, with one insider going so far as to say the CEO “cares about nothing else.”

A new report suggests that Meta is changing its own headset plans in what may be a move geared to accelerate its moves towards an AR glasses product …

Meta started out with pure virtual reality headsets, and these have proven popular primarily for gaming. Separately, it brought out Ray-Ban Meta glasses, which are AI-powered but offer no AR or VR capabilities – there is no screen. It is said to be planning a new version with a very basic screen, but this expected to simply display notifications and similar rather than offer AR capabilities.

Apple is believed to be planning its own equivalent product with an intended launch date around the end of next year.

Looking further ahead, Meta last year showed off a prototype of AR glasses, giving a clear picture of its longer-term goal – but as these were rumored to have a production cost of around $10k, were clearly a very early attempt. A commercial version is likely years away.

Apple is believed to be using Vision Pro as a stepping stone toward an eventual AR-capable Apple Glasses product, with a form factor much closer to conventional eyeglasses. It’s likely that these would rely on an iPhone for their computing power.

Meta was previously reported to be working in a new version of the Quest VR headset, with two potential designs in the works, codenamed Pismo Low and Pismo High.

However, UploadVR reports that the company has cancelled this project in order to focus all its efforts on a lightweight open headset intended to serve as a bridge toward a full AR glasses product.

The two previously leading candidates for a Quest 4 series, codenamed Pismo Low and Pismo High, have been canceled […] Simultaneously, the company is accelerating its plans for an extremely light open-periphery headset with a tethered compute puck […], hoping to launch by the end of 2026. Meta is exploring multiple display system approaches for Puffin, at differing price points, and hasn’t yet settled on which it will ship.

A previous report by The Information said that Puffin is a very lightweight device resembling a bulky pair of glasses. The device is said to be geared to acting as a multi-monitor setup for both entertainment and productivity purposes.

The planned timeline could see Cook applying pressure on the Apple Glasses development team to further accelerate the pace.

• Smart glasses available on Amazon
• Anker 511 Nano Pro ultra-compact iPhone charger
• Spigen MagFit case for iPhone 16e – adds MagSafe support
• Apple MagSafe Charger with 25w power for iPhone 16 models
• Apple 30W charger for above
• Anker 240W braided USB-C to USB-C cable

Photo by K8 on Unsplash