Apple just showed its hand — and the next three years of wearable tech suddenly make a lot more sense.
The company is accelerating development on three new AI-powered wearable devices, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. All three products — smart glasses, a wearable AI pendant, and camera-equipped AirPods — will connect to the iPhone and rely on cameras to feed visual information into a smarter version of Siri that Apple is building.
This is not vague future talk. Apple is reportedly targeting production to begin in December 2026 for the smart glasses, with a public launch expected in 2027. The camera AirPods could arrive as early as late 2026. The AI pendant remains in earlier development but may also launch next year if the project survives Apple's strict internal review process.
The smart glasses are the most ambitious of the three devices. Apple recently provided its hardware engineering team with prototypes, and the glasses are being developed under the codename N50. Unlike true augmented reality glasses with floating text or graphics in your vision, Apple's first smart glasses reportedly will not include a display.
Instead, the glasses will pack a dual-camera system — one high-resolution camera capable of capturing photos and videos, and a second computer-vision sensor designed to measure distance, identify landmarks, and feed environmental context to Siri. The frame is expected to be made from premium materials like acrylic, with built-in speakers and microphones for calls, music playback, and voice commands. Think Meta Ray-Bans, but with the full weight of Apple's ecosystem and software intelligence behind them.
The glasses will compete directly with Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, which have quietly built a loyal audience over the past two years. Apple is taking the approach it typically does — letting others break ground first, then entering the market with a refined, premium product designed to fix the pain points competitors missed.
The AI pendant is perhaps the strangest product in Apple's pipeline. The device is reportedly about the size of an AirTag and can be worn either clipped to clothing or on a necklace through a hole in the hardware. According to The Information, the pendant will come equipped with two cameras, three microphones, a small speaker, and a physical button.
Unlike the disastrous Humane AI Pin — which tried and failed to replace the smartphone — Apple's pendant is designed to work as an iPhone accessory, not a standalone device. Some Apple employees reportedly describe it as the "eyes and ears" of the iPhone. The pendant would function as an always-on camera and microphone, giving Siri constant awareness of the user's surroundings so it can respond to questions about what you are looking at or hearing.
The pendant will not include a display or projector. Its computing power is expected to be closer to AirPods than the Apple Watch, meaning most processing will happen on the paired iPhone. Apple is reportedly debating whether to include a built-in speaker, which would allow users to interact with the device without needing AirPods. The project remains in early development and could still be canceled.
The camera AirPods are the furthest along in development. Gurman has previously reported that Apple is experimenting with adding low-resolution infrared cameras to future AirPods models. These cameras are not designed for taking photos — instead, they would analyze surroundings and feed data into AI systems to support spatial audio, navigation, and contextual Siri responses.
Camera-equipped AirPods could launch as early as September 2026, though exact timing has not been confirmed. Apple has already begun adding more AI-driven features to AirPods, including a live translation mode introduced in 2025.
All three devices are being built around a smarter, chatbot-style version of Siri that Apple is developing for iOS 27. That new Siri will rely on visual context to carry out actions based on what users are seeing, and it will reportedly use Google-developed AI models to power its responses. Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed at an internal all-hands meeting earlier this month that the company is working on entirely new product categories enabled by AI.
Apple's strategy is becoming clear. Instead of betting everything on one dramatic product like Vision Pro, the company is building a layered ecosystem of AI wearables — all tied back to the iPhone. It is a deliberate shift toward context-driven computing rather than screen-driven interaction. Whether users embrace that shift in 2027 is the question Apple is now racing to answer.
Apple smart glasses expected to enter production December 2026 with 2027 launch. Camera AirPods may arrive late 2026. AI pendant in early development. All details based on Bloomberg and The Information reports from February 2026.
