Apple Could Release Augmented Reality Glasses But CEO Tim Cook Is Not a Fan of Google Glasses

Rumors of Apple planning augmented reality glasses have hit the web, but the reality is not as exciting. Although Apple acquired Metaio, a German Augment Reality company, a year ago, there hasn't been an official announcement about creating AR glasses.

Will Apple glasses be a thing in 2017?

CEO Tim Cook has made no efforts to hide the fact that he is interested in AR technology. Why would he hide it, in fact? It's one of the most interesting areas to explore. The iPhone is planning some huge projects this year and, although we can expect something huge in the AR department this year, it won't be AR glasses.

According to 9 to 5 Mac, the rumor started with popular tech blogger, Robert Scoble. He posted on his social media accounts that Apple is working with Carl Zeiss, a German optics company, to produce AR glasses. He said that a Zeiss employee told him the exciting news and that it would be released in 2017.

Bloomberg wrote about Apple gearing up for manufacturing a product to go up against Google Glasses sometime in 2018. That article noted that Apple had not started the production because the Apple glasses concept was still being explored.

Apple does not want to end up like Google Glasses

Mashable, meanwhile, reported that Apple wouldn't want to mimic Google Glasses and appear like a copycat. Gartner analyst Brian Blau told the tech publication that, although Scoble's report isn't exactly a lie, it was probably taken out of context. Blau doesn't doubt that Apple is planning something big in the AR field, but he also doesn't think it would be Apple glasses this year.

The media outlet continued to write that, while AR glasses sounds interesting, it might not find much support within its own company. Back in 2015, Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive said that Cook himself was not a fan of Google Glasses. He predicted that the idea wouldn't fly well because, in the first place, majority of the people didn't want to constantly wear glasses.

That simple premise might be the very reason Apple hasn't zeroed in on a final AR project. There are a lot of problem with wearing glasses (like dealing with smoke or fog, finger print marks, etc.), so Apple could be looking for better alternatives. Of course, there are other more exciting things Apple could release this year under the AR banner, but the rest of the world will just have to wait what tricks the company has up its sleeve.