Next month, two longtime rivals in social media will face off with major demonstrations of what they think will eventually be the next major computing platform: AR glasses.
The first big reveal will come from Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, who, sources tell me, is set to unveil the fifth generation of Spectacles on September 17th at his annual Partner Summit in Los Angeles. The following week, on September 25th. I’ve confirmed that Mark Zuckerberg is slated to debut Meta’s first AR glasses, codenamed Orion, at his Connect conference in Menlo Park.
Though Meta and Snap have pursued different paths in developing AR glasses, both are grappling with the same challenge: the technology still isn’t ready for mainstream adoption. As a result, neither company intends to sell the glasses they’ll showcase next month, according to insiders. Instead, Snap will repeat its 2021 strategy, distributing this upgraded Spectacles model to select developers and partners. Snap is reportedly producing fewer than 10,000 units, while Meta is manufacturing even fewer of its Orion glasses.
Zuckerberg has been hinting that Orion’s arrival for several months, even going so far as to surreptitiously tease the glasses on his desk in an Instagram post last month. Both he and Spiegel see wearable displays as the “holy grail” device that could eventually be as ubiquitous as smartphones. Orion is the first proof-of-concept device for a roadmap of glasses the company has planned through the end of this decade.
While originally conceived as a commercial product, Orion’s release was scrapped in 2022 due to factors like cost, battery life, and display quality. Meta has instead opted to make it a demo device for employees and select outsiders. Zuckerberg has already started showing the glasses to folks like Bloomberg’s Emily Chang, who recently visited his Lake Tahoe home for an extensive interview, ahead of Connect next month.
”In the domain of consumer electronics, it might be the most advanced thing that we’ve ever produced as a species,” CTO Andrew Bosworth told me about Orion late last year. “At the same time, I think it’s important for us to set expectations. These things were built on a prohibitively expensive technology path. For us to return to this capability in a consumer electronics price point and form factor is the real work that we have ahead of us.”
Down in Los Angeles, Snap has recently been waffling on whether to sell its newest Spectacles, which, I’m told, are mostly an upgraded version of the 2021 design with a wider field of view and improved battery life. Like Orion, they cost thousands of dollars to build, though they lack the accompanying wristband Meta has developed for controlling its glasses with EMG technology it acquired through CTLR-Labs...
