Apple has long been rumoured to be working on a form of virtual reality or augmented reality hardware, even if the rumours can’t quite seem to nail down when exactly we’ll see either of these.
A new report from Bloomberg is the most detailed yet. It claims that Apple has both AR and VR gear in the works, with a VR headset slated to launch first before more consumer-friendly AR hits the market.
Virtually Apple
The report cites “people with knowledge of the matter”, giving more information on the apparent project than we’ve seen to date. In terms of design, the headset will be a complete unit — along the lines of the Oculus Quest 2 — and it’ll use Apple’s processor tech. However, the chip intended for the “mostly” VR hardware will outclass the M1 notebook processor.
Details about the prototype are known — though these don’t indicate a final product. The current prototype is covered with fabric and is smaller than VR headsets you may have seen in the past. The company is reducing the space inside the headset, where glasses might usually go. To compensate, the headset will support prescription lenses — how that works in the real world is something we’ll have to wait for.
That high-end processor? It currently requires a fan, something we hope Apple sorts out before heading to retail. The displays will be “…much higher-resolution than those in existing VR products”, meaning that pricing for the first set of hardware might turn out rather too high for most wallets. It’ll supposedly launch in 2022, followed by a slightly wallet-friendlier (bearing in mind that this is Apple) AR headset in 2023.
It’s possible that this hardware never comes to fruition or, as Ars Technica points out, it’s also possible that this high-end hardware is intended mostly for development, with more economical commercial AR headsets following soon afterwards. Nothing’s official but, as ever, we’re hopeful that we’ll see new tech from Apple soon. Specifically this new tech.
Source: Bloomberg