Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses under threat from an old rival – have two years to prepare for battle

Smart glasses have been attempted by several companies, and they've been around for a number of years now. But none have been quite as popular as the Ray-Ban Meta glasses – not least thanks to the fact they look much like your standard Ray-Bans.

However, they could be under threat from a heavyweight rival.

A recent report has suggested that competition might be coming from Apple. According to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg (via 9to5Google), the Cupertino company is developing a chip for non-AR smart glasses which it intends to mass produce by the end of 2026 or early 2027.

Gurman claims the chip in development is similar to what is currently offered in the Apple Watch and he also believes the hardware that it drives could arrive within the next two years.

What's been claimed about this smart glasses chip so far?

Bloomberg's report says that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. will handle production, as it makes Apple's other chips, and the non-AR glasses processor is being customised to further improve power efficiency compared to what is offered on Apple Watch.

It added that the chip is "also being designed to control the multiple cameras that are planned for the glasses".

Not much else was revealed about the project, although we hope there will be at least the same attention to style as Ray-Ban and Meta give its glasses. Gurman did also report that its smart glasses won't be the only wearables Apple introduces cameras to in the future.

In his report, he says that most Apple devices could benefit: "The company also is spreading its bets. Apple has been working on adding cameras to its AirPods and smartwatches, aiming to turn those products into AI products well.

"The company is developing a chip called Nevis for the camera-equipped Apple Watch and a component named Glennie for the similarly outfitted AirPods. Apple is aiming to have those chips ready by around 2027."

Nothing is confirmed yet, of course, but if Gurman is right, the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses could have some interesting competition in the next couple of years.