Apple Scraps Work on Mac-Connected Augmented Reality Glasses

Apple Inc. has cancelled a project to build advanced augmented reality glasses that would pair with its devices, marking the latest setback in its effort to create a headset that appeals to typical consumers.

The company shuttered the programme this week, according to people with knowledge of the move. The now-cancelled product would have looked like normal glasses but include built-in displays and require a connection to a Mac, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the work wasn’t public. An Apple representative declined to comment.

The project had been seen as a potential way forward after the weak introduction of the Apple Vision Pro, a $3,499 model that was too cumbersome and pricey to catch on with consumers. The hope was to produce something that everyday users could embrace, but finding the right technology — at the right cost — has proven to be a challenge.

Apple risks losing ground to Meta Platforms Inc., which already sells a popular set of Ray-Ban smart glasses. Meta is working to create a version that adds augmented reality — the superimposing of images and data on real-world views — and expects to have a product ready by 2027. That’s when Apple had previously intended to sell its device-connected glasses, which were code-named N107.

The decision to wind down work on the N107 product followed an attempt to revamp the design, according to the people. The company had initially wanted the glasses to pair with an iPhone, but it ran into problems over how much processing power the handset could provide. It also affected the iPhone’s battery life. So the company shifted to an approach that required linking up with a Mac computer, which has faster processors and bigger batteries.

But the Mac-connected product performed poorly during reviews with executives, and the desired features continued to change. Members of Apple’s Vision Products Group, which worked on the device, grew increasingly concerned that the project was on the rocks. Sure enough, the final word came this week that the effort was over.

The glasses are the latest example of Apple giving up on a once-promising technology. Last year, the company axed its decade-long effort to build a self-driving car. It also cancelled work on custom Apple Watch screens in 2024.

The Vision Pro remains a technical marvel, even with its slow start. Chief executive officer Tim Cook touted the product during an earnings conference call Thursday, saying that more corporate customers are embracing it.

But employees in Apple’s Vision Products Group, or VPG, believe there’s a lack of focus and clear direction within the team, which is overseen by executive Mike Rockwell and company hardware chief John Ternus. The N107 retreat is just the latest failed attempt to make Apple’s headset technology successful, they say, and that’s hurting morale.

The company is still working on successors to the Vision Pro, including updated versions of the original model. It also has other concepts in the works, such as AirPods with cameras, and executives still hope to eventually create a set of standalone AR glasses someday.

Apple has made other recent changes. Last week, one of the Vision Pro team’s top executives moved to the AI division.

The N107 device had advanced projectors that could display information, images and video in the field of view for each eye, similar to augmented reality glasses being developed by Meta and others. Despite the project being shuttered, Apple is still working on underlying technologies that could be used in AR glasses down the road, including custom microLED-type screens, Bloomberg News reported this week.

The holy grail for the industry is creating fully standalone glasses — with their own screens, processor and operating system — that wouldn’t require a smartphone or computer. Last year, Meta previewed prototype glasses called Orion that come close to this design, though they do connect to a wireless puck that handles the computing. Meta expects developers to start buying test units in 2026, helping them create software for the device. The launch of a consumer version — code-named Artemis — is planned for 2027.

The canceled Apple device also would have been similar to devices such as Xreal Inc.’s One spectacles and Lenovo Group Ltd.’s ThinkReality. The Vision Pro, in contrast, is a mixed-reality headset. It melds virtual reality with a version of AR that relies on cameras to show the outside world — rather than just letting users peer through glass at the real thing.

With its AR glasses project, Apple had hoped to capitalize on one of the more compelling features of visionOS, the operating system that runs on the Vision Pro. It can link up with a Mac and let people handle computing tasks in mixed reality. That means the Vision Pro can serve as a giant, virtual monitor that feels like it curves around a user.

Prototypes of the device were light enough to not require a strap to wrap around a wearer’s head — a requirement of the heavier Vision Pro. Apple also removed the front-facing screen on today’s Vision Pro that shows a wearer’s eyes. Though that technology is one of the more memorable aspects of the current headset, the feature adds cost and weight.

But the device did still have some bells and whistles: The company worked on including lenses that could change their tint depending on what a user is doing. The idea was to tell an onlooker if the person is present and approachable — or busy working on computing tasks.

The N107 decision marks at least the second time Apple has walked away from an AR project. Around two years ago, it shelved its first effort, a project code-named N421. Apple had originally aimed to bring those glasses to market around a year after the initial Vision Pro. Apple canceled N421, in part, to focus on a new mixed-reality headset code-named N109, which has been discussed as a cheaper variant of the Vision Pro’s VR-based design.

Company executives were originally compelled by the N107 idea because of past success with devices like the Apple Watch and AirPods, which serve as accessories to its main products. In recent years, Apple’s Wearables, Home and Accessories segment has eclipsed its Mac and iPad divisions in revenue.

The failure of the N107 glasses leaves Apple with one fewer avenue for finding a new hit product. So far, the Vision Pro doesn’t have mass consumer appeal.

Within Apple, the Vision Pro’s slow sales were initially blamed on its hefty price tag — roughly seven times the level of Meta’s Quest 3 headset. But there’s been another, more troubling development: People who already own the device aren’t using it as much as the company had anticipated.

That puts Apple in a quandary. Even if it can make a headset cheaper and lighter, it still has to figure out how to make the product resonate with consumers.

By Mark Gurman