- Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed that new Meta smart glasses are headed our way “later this year”
- He mentioned multiple “launches”
- And he teased that “some new technological capabilities” are coming too
Meta’s first-quarter 2025 earnings report is live, and during a call with investors discussing the results CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that we’re getting new smart glasses later this year – and they could be better than anything we’ve seen before.
According to Meta, its Ray-Ban smart glasses are a smash hit. In the past year sales have tripled, and its glasses have four times as many monthly active users than they did a year ago.
Keen to capitalize on this success, Zuckerberg told investors that “We’ve got some exciting new launches with our partner EssilorLuxottica later this year as well that should expand that category and add some new technological capabilities to the glasses.”
There are two things to note in this comment: the use of the plural “launches” and the promise of “new technological capabilities.” Because, while Zuckerberg didn’t expand on these comments during the call, leaks already appear to have spoiled Meta’s smart glasses surprises for later this year.
Starting with those new capabilities, this is almost certainly a nod to the now much-leaked Ray-Ban smart glasses with a display.
To bring you up to speed, these new Ray-Bans would be almost functionally identical to what has come before (with a camera, speakers, and Meta AI functionality), but they will also incorporate a single in-lens screen.
Unfortunately they’re rumored to be pricey too – we’re talking over or around $1,000 / £1,000 / AU$1,500 according to people in the know.
Despite this, the upgrade has the potential to be huge, as it could bring significant AR features to Meta’s specs as it pushes towards more full-on AR glasses with the consumer version of its Meta Orion AR glasses.
As for the other launches, we’re expecting that Meta will also reveal a pair of athlete-focused specs based on Oakley’s Sphaera glasses. Oakley, like Ray-Ban, is a brand owned by EssilorLuxottica.
These wouldn’t incorporate a display, and the camera would apparently be moved from the side of the glasses to the centre, but little else has been confirmed. Hopefully, they’d incorporate athlete-specific features like running or cycling assistance via their Meta AI integration.
Beyond the Oakley glasses and the display-equipped specs, I have a feeling that Meta could have another pair or two up its sleeves, based on leaked comments from the company’s CTO that Meta is “pushing our advantage by launching half a dozen more AI powered wearables.”
They could include the long-rumored Meta Camerasbuds, which would add cameras to more typical-looking earbuds, or a Meta smartwatch (which long-time readers will know is rumored to be cancelled / uncancelled every few months) as a way to control its glasses.
But I have a feeling we might also get upgraded standard Ray-Ban specs – especially if the ones with a display are as pricey as has been rumored.
These smart glasses would offer the exact same functionality as the existing model but with some combination of better cameras, better audio, and better battery life for around the same cost.
Based on Meta’s smart glasses success and the fact that its glasses are approaching two years old, a refresh would make sense – though this is just a hunch (and I’ll admit that my Reality Labs predictions aren’t always stellar).
As for when we’ll see these glasses, Zuckerberg’s “later this year” remark all but guarantees an October launch. This is the month in which Meta has released new Reality Labs hardware for the past few years after announcing the tech at its Meta Connect event, which usually takes place in late September.
This year’s Connect is on Sept 17 and 18, so it won’t be long before we see these new smart specs in action – and I’m already counting down the days.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
