Mike Wuerthele
With the iPhone X just three months out of the gate, and discussions about the 2018 iPhone refresh starting, eyes are starting to look at 2019, with new supply chain discussion by an investment analyst firm suggesting that Apple is now working on a world-facing 3D sensor to assert dominance in augmented reality.
According to a research note written by Barclays, and seen by AppleInsider, Apple and its partners are "working hard on a world-facing solution" capable of scanning surroundings in 3D, similar to what the TrueDepth system does for a user's face. After discussions with supply chain sources, Barclays claims that development is ongoing, and many details still need to be hammered out before it is included in any fall 2019 build.
From an architectural standpoint, Barclays expects that Apple will employ a "similar but tweaked TrueDepth sensor" on the rear of that future iPhone. Alternatively, or coupled with the sensor, Apple will use time-of-flight calculations to bolster the data from whatever sensor it installs on the device.
All of this builds upon Apple CEO Tim Cook's ambitions for the space. Barclays believes, that given Cook's emphasis on augmented reality, that Apple "remains fully committed" to dive into that aspect in other hardware offerings beyond just the iPhone. As the TrueDepth sensor hardware expands to other families of Apple devices, the analyst firm expects that Apple will open up ARKit even more over time, to encompass the expansion of the technology.
Android-based products aren't that far behind. Barclay's expects to see varying implementations of 3D sensors in flagships from Samssung, Huawei, and Oppo in the Spring, and Xiaomi in the early summer, all with their own execution in both hardware and software.
Regarding the 2018 iPhone lineup, Barclays isn't certain about a smaller sensor notch in an edge-to-edge device, saying only that Apple might choose to make it smaller, should suppliers cooperate with even more diminutive sensor packages than are presently included.
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
9 Comments
No. Thank. You.
Don’t care about AR on my phone and do not want to pay a King’s Ransom for it, either.
The path Apple is on seems to approaching a station where I get off. In the end it is just a throwaway cell phone with a few extras. For a thousand , it had better be a Mac.
Somebody should write an app to use this 3D camera to notify iZombies when they're about to walk into an object or even into traffic.
Any technology Apple has can easily and quickly be duplicated by other manufacturers. It's only dependent on how much money they want to spend to chase after Apple. Except for Face ID, I don't see how Apple has any advantage over other smartphone manufacturers. It seems as though there are still a lot of consumers who'd rather have some sort of fingerprint reader embedded under the display rather than Face ID. Apart from Animoji's is there really much call for AR on the iPhone X. Are there really any important apps that can take advantage of the iPhone X's AR capabilities? I've actually never heard of anyone praising it or pointing out any advantages. Since there were so many consumers and critics griping and moaning about the high cost of the iPhone X, I wonder if it was really worth Apple pursuing such a complicated 3D sensor system. Wall Street apparently didn't think the 3D sensor system was innovative enough or translated into high enough iPhone sales, so it didn't help Apple much in the end.