Who will dominate this next tech trend? Samsung, Apple, Meta?

As you may have noticed from our AR/VR coverage, products like VR (virtual reality) headsets and especially AR (augmented reality) glasses are low-key booming right now.

Meta (formerly Facebook) is leading the charts with its Meta Quest headsets, with the Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest 3 being particularly popular right now.

Meta also revealed a pretty cool, fully-standalone AR glasses prototype recently, codenamed Orion.

AR/VR headsets were the first (bulky) step in this new wearable technology trend, with AR glasses being the next logical evolution – something smaller, lightweight, socially acceptable to wear in public, yet just as capable.

So Meta is doing well in this new tech trend. What about Apple and Samsung? Well, this year Apple released its first AR/VR headset – the Apple Vision Pro. It costs $3,500, and we could argue it lacks killer apps and a focused use case for most people, so it's not exactly flying off the shelves.

But it turns out, Samsung may have skipped the whole AR/VR headset stage altogether, and could be ahead of Apple in this race to dominate the smart glasses market. Or is it?

Samsung is rumored to unveil AR glasses alongside the Galaxy S25, what about Apple?

We've been hearing rumors about Samsung working on smart glasses for quite a while now, that it was also in cahoots with Google to develop the software, although this deal fell off, presumably.

Regardless of any roadblocks, it makes perfect sense for the Korean giant to finally unveil a finished product next year. A recent leak, which we should still take with a grain of salt, says Samsung will unveil AR glasses during its Galaxy S25 series Unpacked event in late January of 2025.

Thing is, we've been hearing rumors about Apple developing smart glasses too, for many years now, yet all we've gotten so far is the Vision Pro headset. Where are the smart glasses, are they also coming soon, perhaps also to be revealed in 2025?

What would Samsung's AR glasses be? Cutting-edge, standalone, or like the ones we've seen already?

It's worth noting that whatever Samsung may unveil in early 2025, it's most likely going to be a teaser or a prototype, meaning at best, it'll be released to the public later on. But what will those glasses be – a fully standalone computing device, which would be extremely impressive, or simple AR glasses that will require a wired connection to a Samsung phone, to work?

The latter would be exactly like the AR glasses we've seen by brands like Xreal, Rokid, and TCL. Those look almost identical to normal sunglasses; super socially acceptable to wear in public, but they aren't standalone. Meaning you have to connect them to your phone, Steam Deck, or laptop, and they usually serve as an external display for those. No batteries of their own, no computing "brains" of their own.

So if Samsung releases something like those (e.g. like the Xreal Air 2 Pro), it wouldn't be that impressive, although it may make such glasses more mainstream. Samsung would have to build an app for these glasses, that would make full use of them, as merely connecting them to your phone simply turns them into an external display, no special AR functions or features.

But what will really blow the competition out of the water would be fully-standalone Samsung AR glasses, akin to Meta's Orion prototype. A full computer on your face, theoretically capable of both productivity and entertainment, without needing a wired connection to a phone or another device to function.

Well, such a device would require Samsung to build an entire operating system for it, likely based on Android, like Meta's HorizonOS. And it would be a much bigger undertaking, both from a hardware and software standpoint, thus, again, much more impressive and cutting-edge.

But for now, simple AR glasses like the ones we have already, and presumably an app for your phone that will put them to good use, is the more realistic thing to expect from Samsung.

What would Apple's AR glasses be like?

First off, even if Samsung does enter the smart glasses market in 2025, it doesn't mean Apple will too; just look at foldables. Samsung has six generations of those already, while the Cupertino company remains quiet on that front, rumors aside.

Same with AR glasses – it's not going to be a shocker for Samsung to beat Apple to the punch, only for the latter to release its own months, or even years later, should it decide that there's a market for it.

In that scenario, what would Apple's glasses be like? The company already has its AR/VR operating system, VisionOS, ready and employed with the Vision Pro. It's based on iPadOS, it's kind of underdeveloped and lacking in killer apps, but still, it can be modified for AR glasses too.

Meaning Apple could, in theory, release standalone AR glasses, like it's been wanting to for years, based on leaks, rumors, and statements from CEO Tim Cook that we've seen, although the technology wasn't good enough yet. Is it now?

I'm pretty confident that Apple will wait out Samsung and the other brands who are (getting) into simple AR glasses, and eventually do like Meta – unveil a fully-standalone set of AR glasses instead.

But it won't be soon. So once again, I'm confident Samsung will be first to unveil something, whether simple or standalone glasses next year, and Apple will not.

We're still years away from a fully-standalone, fully-capable computing device that fits in the form factor of glasses, and for a reasonable price. Just look at Meta's Orion prototype again.



Those are expensive to make, bulky, and not even available to the public. Apple wouldn't want to release something like that, unless the time comes that the tech required will be small enough, so as to not result in an unfashionable wearable.

Your thoughts on Samsung's upcoming AR glasses, and Apple's next move?

Apple isn't doing well with its Vision Pro headset, and leakers claim it has even stopped production of it. What would Apple's next move be – give up entirely on this new wearable technology trend, or wait it out, and release standalone AR glasses when the technology allows it?

Also, what are your thoughts on Samsung's rumored-to-be-upcoming AR glasses? Would those be simple and phone-connected, akin to the Xreal Air 2 Pro, or would the Korean company surprise us all and unveil a standalone computer in the form of sunglasses, like Meta's Orion prototype. That would be quite a feat indeed…