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Unlike , Apple isn’t publicizing — but the company has been for years. corroborates rumors that Apple might soon make its biggest AR/VR stride yet: launching a headset by the end of the year.
Though the report comes from DigiTimes, whose accuracy record is mixed, it lines up with a prediction from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo: that with Wi-Fi 6 and 6E support. This is corroborated by earlier reports that in 2022, with smart glasses around 2025, and maybe AR contact lenses after that.
Apple could blend AR and VR with in the near future, leading the way with some sort of high-end AR/VR headset more like an advanced , according to . Gurman also suggests a focus on . In terms of communication, Gurman believes FaceTime using the rumored headset could , meaning instead of seeing the person you’re talking to, you would see a 3D version of their personalized Memoji avatar.
And Apple may have large plans for the headset. The company’s “,” Kuo explains in a note to investors, seen by MacRumors. The device could be relatively lightweight, about 300-400 grams (roughly 10.5-14 ounces), according to . That’s lighter than Meta’s Oculus .
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The headset could be expensive, maybe as much as $3,000 or more, with 8K displays, eye tracking and cameras that can scan the world and blend AR and VR together, according to a report from last year.
It’s expected to feature Apple’s M1 processor and work as a stand-alone device. But it could also connect with Apple’s other devices. That’s not a surprising move. In fact, most of the reports on Apple’s headset seem to line right up with how VR is evolving: lighter-weight, with added mixed reality features via more advanced passthrough cameras. In that sense, Apple’s first headset will probably be a stepping stone to future lighter AR glasses, in the same way that Meta’s next headset, called , might be used.
Last year, suggested internal disagreements, or a split strategy that could mean a VR headset first, and more normal-looking augmented reality smart glasses later. But recent reports seem to be settling down to tell the story of a particular type of advanced VR product leading the way.
These reports have around for several years, including a in 2018. But the question is: When will this happen, exactly? 2022 or even later? into its iPhones and iPads, setting the stage for something more. But we still don’t know what that thing (or things) is. What’s increasingly clear is that the rest of the AR/VR landscape is facing a slower-than-expected road to AR glasses, too.
Watch this:
What Apple’s expensive 8K VR headset could be like
VR, however, is a more easily reachable goal in the short term.
Apple has been in the wings all this time without any headset at all, although the company’s on and for years. Each year, Apple’s made significant strides on iOS with its AR tools. It’s been debated how soon this hardware will emerge: this year, the year after or even further down the road. Or whether Apple proceeds with just glasses, or with a mixed-reality VR/AR headset, too.
I’ve than I can even recall, and been tracking the whole landscape for years. In a lot of ways, a future Apple AR headset’s logical flight path should be clear from just studying the pieces already laid out. Apple in 2020, and previously purchased AR headset lens-maker in 2018.
I’ve had my own thoughts on what the long-rumored headset might be, and so far, the reports feel well-aligned to be just that. , which emerged among many other smartwatches and had a lot of features I’d seen in other forms before, Apple’s glasses will probably not be a massive surprise if you’ve been following the beats of the AR/VR landscape lately.
Remember Google Glass? How about ? Or the or ? too, … and . The landscape could get crowded fast.
Here’s where Apple is likely to go based on what’s been reported, and how the company could avoid the pitfalls of those earlier platforms.
Apple declined to comment on this story.
Launch date: 2022, 2023… or later?
New Apple products tend to be announced months before they arrive, maybe even more. The iPhone, Apple Watch, HomePod and iPad all followed this path.
A , based on purported leaked Apple presentational material, suggested 2022 for an Oculus Quest-like AR/VR headset, and 2023 for glasses. Maybe Apple takes a staggered strategy with AR, and releases several devices: one for creators first, with a higher price; and one for everyday wearers later. any AR/VR headset could overtake Microsoft’s or Oculus’ until 2023 or later.
A 2022 launch would line up with a new report from DigiTimes, spotted by , which says Apple could start mass-producing the headset in August or September and launch later within the year.
Either way, developers would need a long head start to get used to developing for Apple’s glasses, and making apps work and flow with whatever Apple’s design guidance will be. That’s going to require Apple giving a heads-up on its hardware well in advance of its actual arrival. Maybe at WWDC.
We still don’t know anything more yet, but the future still seems farther off than we expected.
An Apple VR headset could be a lot like Meta’s Quest… but higher-end
There’s already one well-polished success story in VR, and the Quest 2 looks to be as good a model as any for where future headsets could aim. Gurman’s report makes a potential Apple VR headset sound a lot like Facebook’s stand-alone device, with controller-free hand tracking and spatial room awareness that could be achieved with technology, introduced on the and .
Apple’s headset could end up serving a more limited pro or creator crowd, or go for a mainstream focus on gaming… or fitness. My experiences with the feel like a natural direction for Apple to head in, now that the Apple Watch is extending to , pairing with TVs and other devices.
Apple’s depth-sensing hardware is already here
Apple is already deeply invested in camera arrays that can sense the world from short and long distances. The front-facing on every Face ID iPhone is like a shrunken-down and can scan a few feet out, sensing 3D information with high enough accuracy to be used for a secure face scan. Apple’s lidar technology on its recent iPhones and iPads can scan out much further, several meters away. That’s the range that glasses would need.
Apple’s existing lidar technology, combined with cameras, is already good enough to scan environments and 3D objects. iPadOS 15 uses the lidar scanner to build out even more advanced depth features and room-meshing, and looks like the missing link to build a new wave of even more realistic AR graphics from Apple.
Add to this the wider-scale lidar scanning Apple is doing in Maps to enable overlays of real-world locations with virtual objects via a technology called Location Anchors, and suddenly it seems like the depth-scanning Apple is introducing could expand to worldwide ambitions.
Apple’s new Mac chips already point toward VR/AR compatibility
The latest are now a lot more like Apple’s iPhones and iPads, which means they’re technically a lot more capable of the power needed to run AR and VR. Developing a common groundwork across devices could allow a headset to feasibly run on an iPhone, iPad or Mac, making it a universal Apple device accessory.
That would be pretty essential if Apple intends on its VR or AR headsets to have any role in creative workflows, or be used for games or apps. It’s one of the limitations of existing VR headsets, which need to run off particular Windows gaming PCs, and still don’t play well with iOS or Android phones.
Look to AirPods for ease of use — and audio augmented reality
I’ve thought about how , and weird design, was an early experiment on how wearing could be accepted and become normal. AirPods are expensive compared to in-box wired buds, but also utilitarian. They’re relaxed. Apple’s possible headsets would need to feel the same way.
The , which AirPods Max and Airpods 3 also have, points to where future ideas could head. Immersive audio is casual, and we do it all the time. Immersive video is hard and not always needed. I could see AR working as an audio-first approach, like a ping. Apple glasses could potentially do the world-scanning spatial awareness that would allow the spatial audio to work. In the meantime, Apple’s already developing the spatial audio tech that its VR headset would need.
Apple Watch and AirPods could be great companions
Apple’s already got a collection of wearable devices that connect with the iPhone, and both make sense with glasses. Its AirPods can pair for audio (although maybe the glasses have their own -like audio, too), while the watch could be a helpful remote control. The Apple Watch already acts as a remote at times, for the Apple TV, or linking up with the iPhone camera. Apple’s future headsets could also look to the watch and expand its display virtually, offering enhanced extras that show up discreetly, like a halo. Or use the watch as some sort of controller.
The Apple Watch could also provide something that it’ll be hard to get from hand gestures or touch-sensitive frames on a pair of glasses: haptics. The rumbling feedback on the Watch could lend some tactile response to virtual things, possibly.
Could Qualcomm and Apple’s reconciliation also be about XR?
Qualcomm and Apple on future iPhones, and I don’t think it’s just about modems. 5G is a key feature for phones, no doubt. But it’s also a killer element for next-gen AR and VR. Qualcomm has already been exploring how remote rendering could allow 5G-enabled phones and connected glasses to link up to streaming content and cloud-connected location data. Glasses could eventually stand on their own and use 5G to do advanced computing, in a way like the Apple Watch eventually working over cellular.
Qualcomm’s chipsets are in almost every self-contained AR and VR headset I can think of (Oculus Quest, HoloLens 2, a wave of new smart glasses, the latest version of Google Glass, Vive Focus). Will Apple’s tech dovetail at all with Qualcomm’s cross-device platforms?