At Apple’s WWDC 2025 event, the company announced its most dramatic software design change in over a decade: Liquid Glass. This visual overhaul gives us a glimpse into what might be coming in Apple’s rumored AR glasses, which will reportedly debut next year.
Users are connecting Liquid Glass to potential AR glasses because the new design draws strong inspiration from that of Apple’s Vision Pro VR headset.
Liquid Glass is named with the idea that each window on a phone is like a pane of glass, see-through and somewhat reflective. It gives the screen a sleeker look, though in its developer beta, Apple hasn’t quite worked out the kinks of playing with opacity.
The Vision Pro wasn’t much of a commercial success — it cost $3,500, and unlike a computer, it isn’t something that has proven essential for our lives. But nonetheless, the UX design of the Vision Pro is impressive because it makes wearing a headset feel a bit less disorienting.
It can feel unnatural to be so immersed in virtual reality for an extended period of time, so Apple took advantage of its mixed reality capabilities by overlaying windows atop a user’s real-world surroundings, rather than a synthetic background.
Apple may not be able to convince people that they need a $3,500 headset, but to keep up with competitors like Meta’s Ray-Bans and Google’s renewed attempt at smart glasses, Apple needs to enter the arena of this lighter hardware. And one of Apple’s strengths as a company — something that sets it apart from Meta and Google — is that it’s known for elegant, modern designs (except for “the notch“).
According to reports from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, these glasses would have cameras, microphones, and speakers like its competitors. Siri — which is still awaiting its own makeover — would be built-in, and could assist with taking phone calls, playing music, live translation, and turn-by-turn directions. On a display, users would be able to see notifications, pictures, and other overlays.
If that’s the case, then Apple will need to master the style of these somewhat transparent design elements. If you’re wearing AR glasses and get some form of notification, you’d probably rather see that as something that blends into your surroundings, and not some giant colorful box that suddenly obscures your vision while you’re walking around.
We don’t know much about the rumored Apple AR glasses yet, but we’d be willing to bet we’ll see Liquid Glass in them.
