9to5Mac Column: Apple Glasses May Appeal Mainly to Existing Eyeglass Wearers

The column said the first-generation Apple Glasses, expected to launch next year, will not have a display and will offer audio output only. It described them as similar to Ray-Ban Meta glasses but probably without photo and video capabilities, with the camera used only to power Visual Intelligence features.

The author wrote that AI features in the Meta glasses were technologically impressive, but the novelty wore off quickly and he found few practical uses. He said the usefulness of the first-generation device will depend heavily on Apple Intelligence, and he found it hard to imagine Apple persuading people who do not wear eyeglasses to buy it.

For the second generation, expected to include a display, the author tested Even Realities G2 smart glasses. He said they felt like a product from the future and were light enough that, during a UK heatwave, he used them as sunglasses with no downside. The AI features again made for a strong demonstration, but he found limited practical use for them.

The writer identified notifications, navigation and translation as the three areas where the display glasses proved useful. For notifications, he said the glasses were convenient when worn anyway, but he did not think people would wear smart glasses solely for that purpose unless they received a constant stream of important alerts.

For navigation, he said the benefit was real but relatively infrequent. It was most welcome in an unfamiliar city, and in his hometown of London it was useful perhaps two or three times a month when walking or cycling to an unfamiliar place. Translation was the best application, he wrote, because it allowed instant visual translation while maintaining eye contact, which he found better than audio translation. The benefit was limited unless the other person also had a pair or listened or looked at a phone while he spoke, and the need was infrequent for most people.

The column concluded that people who frequently travel to a wide range of unfamiliar foreign cities might find display smart glasses a no-brainer for navigation and translation. For most people who do not currently wear eyeglasses, however, the products would be a tough sell if they are not constantly receiving notifications, often navigating unfamiliar places or frequently needing translation, and the glasses would spend most of their time in a drawer.

The author said people who already wear eyeglasses, have a stable prescription and can justify the cost for the gadget factor and some convenience might be more willing to buy. He added that Apple could still surprise, citing its work with the iPhone Duo as an example of taking a compromised form factor and turning it into a must-have device for many people.