Meta’s new Ray-Ban Display AR glasses pack cutting-edge technology into a sleek design, but iFixit’s teardown reveals a major flaw: they are almost impossible to repair.
TLDR:
- iFixit calls the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses “unrepairable” despite praising the advanced tech inside.
- Simple repairs like battery or lens replacements require specialized tools and skills.
- The $800 AR glasses use a mini-projector and waveguide lenses for an immersive experience.
- iFixit urges Meta to prioritize modular, repairable design in future versions.
What Happened?
Meta recently launched its most ambitious smart glasses yet, the Meta Ray-Ban Display, with a hefty $800 price tag and futuristic augmented reality features. But a teardown by repair advocacy site iFixit has revealed that while the tech inside is impressive, the glasses are virtually impossible to fix if something goes wrong.
Smart but Sealed: Inside the Glasses
The Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses were revealed alongside two other smart glasses models, but they stand out for being the most advanced and most expensive. According to iFixit, they are also the least repairable. The teardown shows that users would need to split the arms and the frame apart to even attempt a battery replacement is a nearly impossible task without highly specialized tools and skills.
Here’s what iFixit found during the teardown:
- Batteries are not replaceable by users and require dismantling critical components.
- Speakers are soldered in, making sound repairs extremely difficult.
- Lenses are custom-made and complex to replace or source.
- A mini-projector housed in the right arm uses a liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) system to create a 600×600 pixel image, which is sharp and artifact-free but not serviceable.
- The waveguide lenses use geometric reflection to direct AR visuals directly into the user’s eyes, adding privacy by keeping the display invisible to onlookers.
iFixit noted the glassmaking and optical engineering involved as “groundbreaking,” and even speculated that Meta could be selling these glasses at a loss due to the expensive components.
The Case for Repairability
While Meta’s new glasses offer a tantalizing look into the future of wearable tech, iFixit argues that such devices must start being treated as consumer electronics with repair expectations. The team points out that if AR glasses are ready for mass-market adoption, manufacturers must provide repair paths for regular users.
“Any repairs here are going to need specialized skills and specialized tools,” an iFixit technician said in the teardown video. Even the lenses, despite their technical brilliance, are practically impossible to replace.
This criticism isn’t unique to Meta. Other wearables like Apple’s AirPods have also scored poorly in iFixit’s repairability rankings. However, with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg often championing the mainstream future of AR, it’s surprising that repairability hasn’t caught up with the innovation.
What TechKV Thinks?
I’m blown away by the technology packed into these glasses. The idea of a discreet, intuitive AR experience in a Ray-Ban frame is something out of science fiction. But here’s the catch: tech that breaks easily and can’t be fixed is just expensive trash waiting to happen. If we’re expected to shell out $800 for wearables, we deserve the ability to maintain and repair them without sending them back to the manufacturer or tossing them out entirely.
It’s clear that Meta is pushing the boundaries with this product, but it’s just as clear they’ve missed a huge opportunity. Modular arms, swappable lenses, and battery access shouldn’t be afterthoughts, they should be part of the product vision from day one.
