One week from today, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel takes the stage in Los Angeles to give the world its first proper look at SPECS — the company’s $2,195 consumer AR glasses that have been quietly building anticipation since their announcement at AWE in June.
The event streams live at specs.com on Wednesday September 16 at 4pm Pacific. If you’ve been following the AR glasses space, this is the one to watch.
What we already know about SPECS
SPECS are fully standalone — no phone tether, no external compute puck. Two Qualcomm Snapdragon chips split the workload: one dedicated to computer vision, one to running Lenses. The see-through waveguide display anchors digital objects in the real world with six degrees of freedom, which puts them in a different category from the camera-and-audio glasses that have dominated the market so far.
The hardware is lighter than the developer Spectacles that preceded them, with four hours of battery life per charge and a case that adds sixteen more. Weight comes in roughly 40% below the previous generation. Prescription lens inserts are supported.
Preorders are open now at $2,195 with a $200 fully refundable deposit, with shipping in the US, UK and France this autumn. Snap is deliberately keeping the initial production run to around 100,000 units — a measured first step for a first-generation product at this price point.
What September 16 should confirm
The one thing missing from all of this is a firm shipping date. The preorder page has said “fall 2026” since June, and a launch event held just weeks before winter leaves very little room for anything other than a date on stage. Expect Spiegel to name one.
Beyond the date, the event promises the first in-depth demonstrations of SPECS’ AI features, work tools, entertainment capabilities, and shared AR experiences. Developers and creators will be among the first people outside Snap to wear the shipping hardware.
Why this matters
Look at the competition right now: XREAL’s AURA says fall. Samsung’s Galaxy Glasses say 2026. Google’s Android XR eyewear says later this year. Every other AR product this autumn has committed to a season and nothing firmer. Snap has a day, a stage, and a hands-on line. That counts for something.
The software position is also stronger than it might look. Lens Studio has been publicly available since 2017, and fifth-generation developer Spectacles have been in AR builders’ hands since 2024. The developer ecosystem this launch depends on has been warming up for years.
We’ll be covering the September 16 event live here on AugmentedReality.com.