Apple aims to enter the smart glasses market soon and reportedly already has a device in development. However, there is an issue: users are concerned about privacy. To remedy this, the Cupertino giant is said to be maximising privacy measures.

If you have looked up information on Meta’s smart glasses online, you likely know they have become highly unpopular due to potential misuse. These glasses allow users to take photos and record videos discreetly, raising privacy alarms. Some have even dubbed them “pervert glasses.”

According to a famous publication report, Apple—a company that has built its reputation on user privacy—intends to address these issues with its own smart glasses.

Apple’s smart glasses will be different

The report states that Apple plans to rely on on-device processing for its smart glasses, meaning no data will be sent to external servers. Furthermore, the company is expected to avoid facial recognition and forgo continuous recording features—such as Meta’s “super sensing” concept. Apple is also likely to avoid using customer recordings to train artificial intelligence models.

The lengthy development cycle for Apple’s smart glasses is believed to stem from the company’s efforts to ensure privacy concerns are adequately addressed before the device is launched.

Apple is also reportedly working on additional hardware and software security measures. One option likely under consideration is a version of the glasses without a camera, or with a camera designed solely for sensing purposes, preventing it from capturing photos or videos. A similar approach is rumoured to be in the works for AI-enabled Apple AirPods, as well as for the external cameras and spatial sensors being developed for future AirPods Pro models; these would allow users to identify objects and describe their surroundings without needing to capture photos or videos.

Apple is expected to unveil the smart glasses at the WWDC conference in June 2027 and launch them before the end of that year.

Meta’s smart glasses face criticism

The privacy challenge for Apple follows the widespread backlash against Meta’s AI-equipped glasses with cameras. Public concern over recording people without their consent—compounded by online hacks to conceal the recording indicator light—has led to them being dubbed “pervert glasses.”

These devices have also sparked protests in the UK and the United States. In a recent incident, the activist group ‘Everyone Hates Elon’ altered a Kylie Jenner advertisement by placing a lenticular overlay over it bearing the message: “We are always watching.”

The glasses have also drawn criticism regarding how they are used in public. They have appeared in videos by male influencers specialising in seduction techniques—so-called “pickup artists”—who approach strangers, as well as in footage from pranksters filming people without their consent.

Meta has begun to address these criticisms. In an Instagram Story, the platform’s head, Adam Mosseri, stated that the company would ban users who upload videos showing them harassing others. “If you post content that exploits or harasses people—like many of those pickup-artist videos we’ve heard about and seen—we will remove that content,” he declared.

Mosseri added: “We don’t want people secretly recording others, harassing them, and then posting that on our platform. That’s why we are trying to combat this practice using every means at our disposal.”

Additionally, Meta has advised users website to “turn off the glasses in sensitive spaces, such as doctors’ offices, locker rooms, public restrooms, schools, or places of worship.”