Meta's Decade-Long Bet: Will a Pair of Glasses Oust the Smartphone?

In the 17th year since smartphones became our "external organs," Silicon Valley's most radical disruptor is once again challenging the palm-sized glass screen. "Within a decade, people will淘汰smartphones just as they forgot flip phones," Meta's CEO Zuckerberg declared at the Connect Conference, with a virtual AR glasses display behind him.

The "iPhone Moment" for Smart Glasses: Evolution from Toy to Tool

Walking into a Ray-Ban store in San Francisco's Mission District, Meta's $299 smart glasses are quietly rewriting the wearable device narrative. Housed in classic Wayfarer frames, they feature a 12MP ultra-wide camera and open-ear speakers. They represent a "frictionless connection" reducing screen dependence. "Currently, they're smartphone extensions," admits Meta's hardware head Alex Himel, showing the touchpad on the glasses' leg. But with waveguide display breakthroughs, users might soon see floating 4K video windows 5 meters ahead. Supply chain sources reveal the Hypernova, with embedded Micro LED arrays, is undergoing its tenth iteration at Foxconn.

Supernova Strategy: Conquering the Sports Market

While tech media debates AR glasses' necessity, Meta is collaborating with global eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica. The 2025 Supernova 2, co-branded with Oakley, integrates bone conduction headphones and motion sensors into the Sphaera series for cyclists. Imagine real-time HUD displays of heart rates and navigation during 35 km/h rides. The product matrix includes a $299 base model for habit cultivation, a $999 Hypernova for tech enthusiasts, and the developer-focused Orion kit with laser projection and gesture recognition.

Disappearing Phones and Anxious Calculations: The Compute Power War

At Meta's Reality Labs in Palo Alto, engineers are tackling AR's holy grail: condensing iPhone-level compute power into 8-gram frames. The current Orion prototype still relies on external compute modules and touch wristbands. MIT's Hiroshi Ishii presents more radical solutions like myoelectric sensors for silent control and LiDAR-equipped earbuds for contextual awareness. Despite IDC data showing AR glasses accounting for less than 0.2% of smartphone shipments in 2023, Zuckerberg's strategy involves three stages: cultivating AR content habits with social filters, occupying office spaces with Workrooms, and finally positioning glasses as the digital world's entrance.

The Future Written on Glasses Legs: From Wearable to "Invisible"

While Apple's Vision Pro team explores retinal projection and Microsoft quietly restarts HoloLens 3, Meta's chief designer Sarah envisions a future where AR devices become invisible. She demonstrates how her prototype glasses can project 3D designs onto walls. Though Zuckerberg's decade prediction might be ambitious, the Z-generation lining up to experience AR glasses signals a potential paradigm shift. Their act of recording AR experiences with smartphones mirrors the historical moment when digital cameras captured the last batch of film, symbolizing a technological transition.