- New leaked info about Meta’s next smart glasses has surfaced
- They’ll reportedly boast a single display, and be controlled by a ‘neural wristband’
- But they could cost as much as $1,400 (£1,100 / AU$2,200)
New leaked details of Meta’s upcoming AI smart glasses have emerged that both support existing rumors and provide a few fresh tidbits – including an eye-wateringly high price that’s already starting to kill my enthusiasm.
Bloomberg has shared reports from unnamed insiders that the device, codenamed Hypernova, is expected to launch later this year and will feature a monocular design, as in it will use only one display rather than a pair of screens – two details we’ve already heard.
This single panel would sit in the lower-right corner of the right lens, so it should allow you conveniently see information by looking down without obscuring your vision greatly.
The leak also suggests that the specs will boast many of the same functionality as the current Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses, including the ability to snap photos and videos, and get WhatsApp notifications. On top of that they’ll also apparently offer new features like a dedicated maps app, so you can get navigation right in your vision.
To navigate apps Meta is said to be relying on touch controls built into the frame (just like we’ve seen with its existing smart glasses) as well as a ‘neural wristband’ which can detect hand gestures – with this band believed to be packaged in the box with the Hypernova glasses.
However the kicker is these smart specs likely won’t come cheap. We’re talking over $1,000, with insiders predicting something in the $1,300-$1,400 range (which would be around £1,000-£1,100 or AU$2,050-AU$2,200).
What!?
I was expecting a price increase over the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses for sure. A starting price of $299 / £299 / AU$449 would certainly be too low, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see these glasses land at around $800.
That would be high, but not astronomical in the realm of early adopter tech.
But at over $1,000 and perhaps approaching $1,500, these glasses would be demanding a price that demands excellence – and based on these leaks they don’t deliver that.
I’m sure they’ll be impressive – Meta’s existing smart glasses are one of my favorite gadgets, and AR tech truly feels like the future – but unless Meta has plenty of software tricks up its sleeves, and massive hardware upgrades beyond the screen, these new specs don’t seem to be a tantalizing enough proposition.
Sure, they might boast a few new tools like AR navigation, but these tools aren’t $1,000 more useful than the specs I have at home.
Interestingly, the same Bloomberg report adds that work has already begun on a second-gen version – Hypernova 2 – which will rely on a binocular (two-display) design, with that being planned for 2027.
However, it’s unclear if this design would be part of this new smart glasses line, or if it would be the full-on AR glasses a leaked Meta roadmap teased back in 2023 – and which Meta has been promising since announcing its Meta Orion AR glasses prototype.
This model, with two screens, and with app developers having longer to cook up innovative tech, could find success even at a high cost, but I’m skeptical that Hypernova will prove as phenomenally popular as Meta and Ray-Ban’s other smart glasses have.
As with all rumors we should take these latest details with a pinch of salt. Meta’s pricing strategy could change, it could be planning several apps the leakers aren’t aware of yet, or it could even cancel the smart specs altogether.
I’m hoping Meta can rejig its plans at least a little. After experiencing the fifth-gen Snap Spectacles recently I’m completely sold on the AR future, but these plans don’t sound like the glasses I’m looking for.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
