The next big tech battlefield is AR Glasses – and Apple is ready to fight

For as long as the consumer technology industry has existed, there have been iconic battles for supremacy. Like Frazier and Ali going toe-to-toe, major brands have fought to be crowned king.

It's perhaps best seen in phones. There, the iPhone and a range of Samsung phones have been pitted against one another for years. That sector is a little more diverse these days, but we still see those two big players battling it out.

Now, Apple has its sights set on the next great tech battlefield – AR Glasses. That's not anything new. We've seen devices like the Meta Ray-Ban Smart Glasses and Snap's Spectacles already in the ether, and Meta is preparing to level up with its Orion Glasses, too.

For Apple though, that would mark a big step. Currently, the brand has only unveiled its Apple Vision Pro in this area, and while that's an impressive unit, it's far from a consumer-level device. If nothing else, the £3,499 / $3,499 / AU$5,999 price tag is quite a tough pill to swallow.

It's also far from an under-the-radar look. The current headset design is bulky and very noticeable, which means very few would cut about in public with one on.

The plan, it seems, is to fit a similar suite of technology into something which looks more like a regular pair of reading glasses. The news comes from Mark Gurman's Power On newsletter, and suggests that a stepping stone device is back in the works, on the way to Cook's overall goal.

It's certainly a tall order. Right now, the technology doesn't exist in any recognisable format, and lots still needs to be done in order to make a viable variant. Batteries, for example, will need to be much smaller and more powerful, to provide a meaningful battery life for users.

Whether Apple can beat other major players like Meta to the punch remains to be seen. Regardless, it looks like this will be the next big battlefield for consumer technology.