We’ve been talking about iPhone “killers” from the early years of Apple’s best product, but none of those rivals were able to deliver. If anything, several companies that tried to come up with compelling iPhone alternatives ended up exiting the mobile business. BlackBerry, Nokia, Microsoft, and LG are some of the names that will come up immediately in such conversations.
But there’s no question that we’re nearing the next phase of computing where how we use iPhones might completely change. The dawn of generative artificial intelligence makes that even clearer.
We’ll talk to the AI more and more as it grows more sophisticated, and some of that AI will reside on the iPhone. No need to look at the screen if the AI can understand your commands and perform actions flawlessly, whether it’s sending an email, shopping online on your behalf, or even performing work tasks in the background.
Even before ChatGPT arrived to completely change the tech landscape and force everyone to focus on AI, we had an idea of what the post-iPhone phase of computing would be: Augmented reality (AR) glasses that you wear all day to see content from your iPhone overlaid on top of the real world in front of your eyes.
I wrote more than once that the device that will “kill” the iPhone will be a pair of sophisticated AR glasses connecting to the handset wirelessly. Apple is the prime candidate to do said “killing.”
I keep using quotes because the iPhone won’t go anywhere. It’ll probably remain the main computing device in our lives. But we’ll keep the iPhone in our pockets and purses for longer periods if AR glasses and AI can satisfy many of our iPhone needs.
It turns out that Tim Cook’s biggest priority for Apple is to make an industry-leading pair of AR glasses before competitors like Apple can. Says so Mark Gurman, the Bloomberg reporter who is well-known for his many Apple scoops.
Gurman talked about some of Apple’s products for the near and more distant future in his latest Power On newsletter. The Vision Pro effort is one of the main topics, and it’s directly related to Cook’s AR glasses vision.
Gurman says that Apple has reshuffled the Vision Pro team, but the company hasn’t given up on making new spatial computers. Apple is supposedly making a lighter and cheaper Vision Pro. However, the recent wave of tariffs from the Trump administration might prevent the latter from being achieved.
Apple is also working on a Vision Pro model that plugs directly into a Mac for low-latency applications. This device might target enterprise consumers, where ultra-low-latency is a must-have feature.
But all that is still part of what Gurman describes as Tim Cook’s “grand vision, which hasn’t changed in a decade.” The CEO wants true AR glasses or “lightweight spectacles that a customer could wear all day.”
Gurman notes that Apple’s AR glasses are a “top priority,” and Cook is “hell-bent” on creating an industry-leading product before Meta can.
“Tim cares about nothing else,” a person with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg. “It’s the only thing he’s really spending his time on from a product development standpoint.”
Gurman points out that creating such a device will take a long time:
A variety of technologies need to be perfected, including extraordinarily high-resolution displays, a high-performance chip and a tiny battery that could offer hours of power each day. Apple also needs to figure out applications that make such a device as compelling as the iPhone. And all this has to be available in large quantities at a price that won’t turn off consumers.
Still, the prospect is exciting. Imagine not having to take out the iPhone for most tasks, as the built-in Apple Intelligence and the AR content will be enough to meet your computing needs. Gurman doesn’t mention how the AR glasses will work, but I’m assuming here that they’ll connect wirelessly to the iPhone, at least the first versions.
Until we get there, we might see Apple develop AI glasses similar to the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses that come with built-in Meta AI features. Apple is apparently creating such devices that will feature cameras and microphones so you can use Siri and Visual Intelligence without taking out your iPhone. The device might not let users take photos and videos; however, a capability Apple might reserve for the iPhone.
I’ll point out that even without Tim Cook making AR glasses a top priority at Apple, the company’s next-gen Vision Pro models and the AI-centric smart glasses are all innovations that will inevitably lead to such a product.
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