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Apple Shelves Cheaper Vision Pro to Speed Smart Glasses Push as Meta’s Display Glasses Reach U.S. Stores

The moves highlight smart glasses as the next consumer battleground after mixed-reality headsets struggled to break through.

A photo of the Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) smart glasses and case sitting on a table with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic between them, leaned against the case, with the display showing "Ask Gemini."
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Overview

  • Meta’s $799 Ray‑Ban Display launched in select U.S. stores with a right‑lens heads‑up display for messages, navigation, captions and media, paired with a Neural Band wrist controller that reads finger gestures via sEMG.
  • Sales are in-store with demos at Best Buy and select Ray‑Ban, LensCrafters and Sunglass Hut locations, plus Meta Lab pop‑ups, with Verizon retail support expected soon and international availability planned for 2026.
  • Early hands‑on coverage and reviews of Meta’s latest glasses note stronger battery life and higher‑resolution video, inconsistent Meta AI behavior, and renewed privacy concerns about discreet recording despite indicator lights.
  • Bloomberg reports Apple has paused a lighter, cheaper Vision Pro (N100) to reassign engineers to at least two glasses projects, including a tethered N50 without a display that could be previewed next year ahead of a 2027 launch, and a display model with accelerated timelines.
  • Apple is still expected to ship a modest Vision Pro refresh with a faster chip this year, with its glasses strategy reported to lean on voice interaction and a rebuilt Siri targeted for 2026.