iFixit calls Meta’s Ray-Ban Display glasses “unrepairable” but praises the technology

How-to site iFixit Augmented reality glasses and came away impressed by the technology but concerned about repairability. In fact, a tech says in the accompanying video that it’s “pretty clear that the first iterations of these smart glasses are going to be beyond repair.”

This repairability issue is relatively unsurprising, given that this is modern technology. The site says there are several factors contributing to the issue, noting that users will have to split the arms and frame in half to do something as simple as replacing the battery and the Meta provides no way to do that. “Any repairs here will need specialized skills and specialized tools,” the tech concluded. This also applies to the speakers, as they are soldered.

The same is true when looking for replacement lenses, as they are custom made and will be difficult to obtain. However, iFixit was impressed with the glassmaking skills used in manufacturing these lenses.

The lenses use a reflective geometric waveguide system that reflects light back to the wearer’s eyes at specific angles using partially reflective mirrors. This not only creates an augmented reality experience, but helps prevent others from glancing at the screen when staring at you.

There is a small projector on the right arm, which will also be difficult to fix. This liquid crystal-on-silicon (LCoS) device creates a 600 x 600-pixel retinal image that should be free of artifacts and will not flash the alarming “eye glare” to onlookers. Again, this is due to the lenses, as they differ from older diffraction systems.

All this advanced technology adds up, and iFixit believes Meta may be selling these glasses at a loss, since these lenses are particularly expensive to manufacture. Despite this, the site urges Meta to prioritize “replaceable batteries, modular arms, and interchangeable lenses” in the future.

Meta Ray-Ban Display AR glasses are already in the works . We thoroughly enjoyed our time with them Describing it as “discrete and intuitive”.