Apple aims to launch AR headset in 2022, AR glasses by 2023: Report
12 November, 2019
Apple is aiming to launch augmented-reality headset in 2022 and a sleeker pair of AR glasses by 2023, news website The Information reported on Monday (Nov 11), citing people familiar with the matter.
Apple executives discussed the timelines in October, in an internal presentation to employees at a meeting led by vice-president Mike Rockwell, according to the report.
The iPhone maker also reportedly updated a large number of employees about the project last month, filling the spacious Steve Jobs Theater on its Cupertino campus with employees working on AR hardware.
Apple has long been working on an AR headset, and CEO Tim Cook has been vocal about the potential of the technology. Recent reports suggested that the company may be gearing up to launch such a product as early as next year, but The Information's report suggests a somewhat different timeline.
The company declined to comment.
Alphabet's Google, Microsoft and Facebook are among the many other tech firms that are betting on augmented reality, virtual reality or both.
Apple's AR/VR headset would rely on video pass-through, meaning that it would use cameras to relay a view of the real world within the headset. That's different from the way Magic Leap and Microsoft have been doing AR in their respective headsets, which essentially project digital images onto transparent glass.
Apple's AR glasses, which likely won't feature VR-like immersion, are reportedly meant to be worn all day. That would require Apple to solve a number of technical challenges, one of which is battery life.
Apple would also have to figure out how to make the product socially acceptable, something that Google failed to do when it first experimented with its Google Glass wearable. Equipped with a camera capable of recording bystanders, owners of the expensive wearable were quickly labelled "glassholes", and theatre chains banned the device from their venues.
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