As Apple is expected to make a late entry into the smart glasses market, its release schedule has been pushed back.
Bloomberg reported that Apple plans to unveil its first-ever smart glasses at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June next year.
The Apple smart glasses are scheduled to go on sale to the general public late next year.
Initially, Apple planned to introduce the smart glasses late this year and release them early next year, but the schedule was delayed amid growing concerns over privacy infringement.
Following the release of Meta's smart glasses, an increasing number of people have voiced anxiety that they might be secretly recorded in public places such as restaurants and workplaces.
In fact, courts in places like New York and Pennsylvania have decided to ban smart glasses inside courtrooms, and voluntary measures to block their use are following one after another in schools, gyms, and hospitals for privacy protection.
In response, Apple even considered developing smart glasses that feature a camera system but do not allow photo shooting or video recording.
In this case, the camera would be used solely to capture the user's surrounding environment and feed the data to AI to identify objects or locations.
In addition, smart glasses without a camera at all were discussed, and it is reported that even a prototype of the camera-free smart glasses was built.
However, pointing out that such products would diminish the advantages of smart glasses, Bloomberg noted that the likelihood of Apple releasing a product without camera functions appears small.
Smart glasses are the market receiving the most attention from major IT companies recently, with big tech firms such as Meta, the frontrunner, alongside Google—which is preparing for a launch in the second half of this year in partnership with Samsung—and Snap, joining the fray one after another.
Despite the obstacle of privacy controversies, major IT companies are joining in, and competition to seize market leadership is expected to intensify gradually.
Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Ahn Jun-hyeok | Graphics by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
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