New Meta Glasses Could Drop the Camera Entirely

Quick summary: After reports of people misusing Meta glasses to secretly record, Meta reportedly plans glasses with no camera at all, possibly launching as soon as September 23. They’d keep the microphones, speakers and an AI button.

Why Meta would do it

Some people remove the recording indicator light so others don’t know they’re being filmed, and pranksters capture POV reactions. Some places, like gyms, bars and cruises, are even banning Meta glasses. I wear mine all the time, but I rarely take photos or videos, and when I do my light still goes off. I want people to trust me.

What you’d lose

• No photos or videos.
• No visual AI: you couldn’t ask “What am I looking at?” or have Meta AI identify a tree, plant or vegetable without pulling out your phone.

What you’d gain

• Sleeker and lighter frames.
• Better battery life, since the camera is a major power draw.
• A lower price, with one fewer major part.

Honestly, I might be fine with it

If I had to remove one feature, it might be the camera. I mostly use the speakers and microphones, and my AI questions are mostly audio: the weather, a game score, random trivia.

My price guess

If current models run $299 or $379, could camera-free ones hit $199? Maybe as a holiday promo. My guess is about $50 to $70 less: around $229 or $249 for non-Ray-Ban frames and $299 or $329 for Ray-Bans. We’ll know soon.

Having options, with and without cameras, makes a lot of sense. I still want camera models to stick around.

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