Meta's engineers developed ultra-narrow steel-can batteries for AI smart glasses like Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta Vanguards, solving the challenge of fitting sufficient power into temple arms narrower than a pinky finger. Unlike traditional pouch cells, steel-can cells hold tight tolerances (~100 microns) and Meta replaced the standard wound jelly-roll electrode with die-cut stacked layers, dramatically reducing impedance and enabling peak power delivery. Capacity grew from 160 mAh (Gen 1) to 210 mAh (Gen 2), with doubled runtime achieved through system-level firmware and hardware efficiency gains. The Oakley Vanguards introduced a dual-battery system with cross-charging complexity, while the display-equipped Ray-Ban glasses required a 248 mAh cell. Meta is now scaling this technology across vendors for future wearables.
