Meta’s New Smart Glasses Could Cost a Fraction of Apple’s Vision Pro

The Meta Ray-Bans have proven to be a surprising hit. With the disaster that was Google Glass many years ago, we thought that smart glasses wouldn’t be a thing again. But Meta proved us wrong. Now, the rumors claim Meta has a new pair of smart glasses in the works with a built-in display, and here’s how much it could cost you.

In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman revealed the cost of the Meta smart glasses with a built-in display. If you’re worried it’s going to end up in the Apple Vision Pro territory, you can breathe a sigh of relief. This is because according to Gurman’s sources, Meta’s new smart glasses will be price around $800.

Now, don’t get us wrong, $800 isn’t exactly cheap. We wouldn’t call it affordable either. However, given the previous rumor estimated its price to be around $1,400, this is a good sight (pun intended) cheaper. It also makes it a quarter of the price of the Vision Pro, making it more compelling than ever.

But don’t expect it to be an alternative to the Vision Pro. Unlike the Vision Pro, which offers a truly immersive experience, Meta’s smart glasses will be watered down. The glasses aren’t a true augmented reality pair of glasses. Instead, the built-in display will be used to show notifications and mini apps.

Honestly, that’s still pretty good. Right now, the Meta Ray-Bans function more like a hands-free device for your phone, but with bonus photo/video taking capabilities. Being able to actually see notifications and run mini apps, like navigation apps, would make them immensely more usable. We’ve already seen an alleged leak of the glasses. They look like the regular Ray-Bans, but it could come with a band accessory for potential gesture control.

That being said, these glasses aren’t even close to what Meta has planned for the future. According to the rumors, Meta has several smart glasses in the works. The model in this report has the “Hypernova” codename, but there is apparently a “Hypernova 2,” which comes with dual built-in displays. Then, there is also “Orion,” a pair of true AR glasses.