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 …
1st-gen Apple Glasses
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.
2nd-gen Apple Glasses
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:
- Notifications
- Navigation
- Translation
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?
For notifications, the answer is absolutely not. Yes, when I’m wearing them anyway, it’s extremely convenient to simply see a notification appear mid-air in front of me without having to look at a watch or pull out an iPhone. But I don’t allow many notifications, and unless you’re receiving a constant stream of important ones throughout your day, I can’t see anyone wearing smart glasses just for this.
For navigation, my answer is yes … but the occasions on which this would be beneficial are relatively infrequent. The biggest benefit is when visiting an unfamiliar city, when it’s very welcome indeed, as it enables extremely easy navigation while still being able to enjoy all of the sights around you. In my hometown of London, it sometimes proved useful when walking or cycling to an unfamiliar place, but this was typically no more than two or three times a month.
The single best application in my view is the translation feature. It’s absolutely fantastic to be able to be making eye contact with someone and to get an instant visual translation. I find this way better than all audio translation in my ears. Of course, unless they have a pair too, then the benefit is limited as they will need to be either listening or looking down at the phone when I’m speaking. But of course, that too is a rather infrequent need for most of us.
Who will buy them?
I think even if you don’t currently wear eyeglasses, if you travel frequently to a wide range of unfamiliar foreign cities, then smart glasses with a display make perfect sense. Between the navigation and translation features, I would view the purchase as a no-brainer. However, while that was once my life, back in my tech research days, that’s not the case today.
Maybe if I wore eyeglasses and could justify the cost for the gadget factor and a bit of convenience, then I might shrug and say, why not? If your prescription is stable and you’re going to be able to use them for a number of years, then perhaps even relatively mild benefits would sell them.
But I would say for most people who don’t currently wear eyeglasses, they would be a very tough sell. If you’re not constantly being bombarded with notifications, aren’t often navigating to unfamiliar places, and don’t frequently have the need to understand people speaking a language you don’t speak yourself, then smart glasses like this are just very impressive technology that will spend most of their time gathering dust in a drawer.
Of course, Apple may pull something out of the hat here, just as it did with the iPhone Duo. The company took a form factor that was cute but compromised and appears to have turned it into a must-have device for a significant number of people. Perhaps it will do the same with Apple Glasses. Right now, however, my view is that if you wear eyeglasses and can afford them, you’ll probably want the 2nd-gen. If you don’t, then I can’t currently, well, see it.
What’s your view? Do you think Apple will come up with a killer app for either 1st- or 2nd-gen glasses, or simply implement the technology so well that you’d be willing to wear a pair routinely? Or do you think they will only sell to those who already wear eyeglasses? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
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