Wall Street is buzzing with fresh takes on Apple’s near-term outlook, spanning everything from post-launch demand for the iPhone 17 lineup to how Meta’s new AI-enabled smart glasses might (or might not) reshape the wearable landscape.
After a hands-on demo in New York, Oppenheimer’s Martin Yang praised the Ray-Ban Display smart glasses for pushing consumer wearables forward, but flagged practical comfort issues such as eye strain and blurry vision. His takeaway: it’s too early to consider these glasses an everyday companion on par with Apple Watch, and they’re nowhere close to replacing smartphones. In Yang’s view, Apple’s hardware ecosystem looks secure from any smart-glasses disruption for the next two to three years, giving the company valuable runway to refine its own approach.
The Ray-Ban Display glasses weave in some impressive tech: a built-in screen large enough to read text, watch short videos, follow directions, and see live translations, plus an innovative control system embedded in the Meta Neural Band. That band uses electromyography to pick up nerve signals between the brain and hand, enabling subtle hand-gesture navigation. Still, the comfort hurdles suggest the category needs time.
On Apple’s side, industry chatter indicates the company has paused work on a higher-end Vision Pro variant reportedly planned for 2027 to prioritize AI-enabled smart glasses targeting a 2026 debut. Expected capabilities include cameras, microphones, and speakers integrated with an upgraded Siri for hands-free notifications, real-time AI assistance, and on-the-fly translations. Notably, these glasses are not expected to include an onboard AR display, pointing to a more assistive, audio-first experience rather than full visual overlays.
Meanwhile, UBS Evidence Lab’s global availability tracker across 30 markets indicates that aggregate iPhone 17 demand has slipped past its initial post-launch peak. The base model’s early spike seems to be behind us, and wait times for the Air variant suggest muted interest in the thinner design with more modest specs. The iPhone 17 Pro is seeing easing lead times as well, including a notable drop in China to 13 days—shorter than both last year’s 14-day wait and last week’s 20-day mark. It’s a familiar pattern for iPhone cycles: a robust launch window followed by normalization as supply catches up and early adopters are served.
Looking ahead, Morgan Stanley’s most optimistic scenario sees Apple shipping up to 270 million iPhones in 2026, buoyed by a broader lineup and stronger AI integration. The roadmap discussed by the firm points to as many as six launches next year: an iPhone 17e, the base iPhone 18, plus Air, Pro, and Pro Max versions, and even a foldable model. If that cadence holds, Apple could be positioning itself for a bigger refresh cycle just as AI features become must-have capabilities for mainstream buyers.
The upshot: AI wearables are clearly accelerating, but current smart glasses aren’t ready to replace the devices in your pocket. Apple appears to be playing the long game, tuning its vision for glasses while steering iPhone demand through its usual post-launch curve. If the company’s 2026 plans materialize—blending a wider iPhone portfolio with deeper AI—expect the smartphone and wearable narrative to heat up all over again.
