Apple Delays Smart Glasses to 2027 Amid Privacy Backlash and Global Restrictions

The product was previously expected to be previewed this year and go on sale next year, but the pace has now clearly slowed.

Internally, Apple is weighing three technical approaches. The first eliminates cameras entirely, leaving only voice interaction, a first-person audio AI assistant, and music playback, but sacrifices visual perception of the surrounding physical world. The second restricts camera permissions to AI visual analysis only, prohibiting users from recording photos or videos, with footage processed briefly on-device and immediately discarded. The third resembles Meta Ray-Ban, supporting both capture and AI features.

Privacy has become the core challenge for smart glasses. In Japan's Waseda University entrance exam, a candidate used smart glasses to covertly photograph the test paper and transmit it in real time to an external AI for answers. During this year's gaokao, education examination authorities in Guangdong, Shanghai, Hubei, and other regions required all candidates wearing framed glasses to remove them under supervision for special inspection. In July, Meta updated its protection mechanism for Ray-Ban smart glasses, forcing the camera to shut down if the recording indicator light was damaged or tampered with. Meta's newly released Muse Image AI tool sparked protests for using public Instagram account portraits without permission, and was quickly taken down. In March, a California court accepted a class action lawsuit in which plaintiffs accused Meta of sending users' home videos to a data-labeling factory in Kenya for manual review.

But technical architecture can only address where data goes, not why a lens should capture strangers. For the person facing the wearer, whether data stays on a local chip or a server makes no essential difference; once the lens is pointed at them, the collection has already occurred.

Globally, restrictions and bans on smart glasses are spreading. From special checks at gaokao security gates to hospitals, gyms, and even cruise ship children's areas, society is using physical shielding to counter invisible intrusion. For smart glasses to move from geek toy to everyday mainstream use, the public trust problem must be solved.