Reportedly facing design and development issues, "Apple Glass" may now be preceded by a separate Apple VR headset that will be an expensive rival to Oculus.
The forthcoming "Apple Glass" AR headset has reportedly hit more than one hurdle in its development and may now be beaten to market by an alternative Apple device. This is expected to be a heavier, more familiar-looking VR headset, akin to Oculus or PlayStation VR, but more expensive.
According to Bloomberg, Apple plans to launch this new headset in 2022, and price it above the $300 to $900 of its rivals. It's believed that Apple expects this to only sell in low volumes, reportedly only one headset per day per Apple Store, similar to how the Mac Pro sells now.
The headset is said to be codenamed N301 and is said to be in the late prototype stage. It's claimed that the headset will contain processors that out-perform the Apple M1 chips in the new Apple Silicon Macs.
"Apple Glass," codenamed N431, on the other hand, are reportedly said to be in a pre-prototype stage known as "architecture." This means Apple is still at the stage of developing underlying "Apple Glass" technologies instead of physical devices.
Apple has been working on different designs of headsets for many years, with Jony Ive reportedly delaying one over design concerns.
His chief disagreement with Apple's plans at the time was that the company wanted to release a two-part system. There would be a headset and a separate device that would contain the processors.
According to Bloomberg, one issue with bundling the processors into the single headset design of "Apple Glass" has been that it made the device heavy. Reportedly, early testing raised issues over neck strain.
Apple has also previously been reported to be working on auto-adjusting "Apple Glass" sets that would remove the need for prescription lenses. Bloomberg says that in the current design, Apple has reduced the size by removing the space that VR headsets typically keep for prescription lenses.
This could mean that Apple is confident of its alternative to prescription lenses. However, it would raise issues over setting up the lenses when buying at an Apple Store or online. And different countries have different series of regulations regarding such lenses, which Apple would most likely have to address so that one single device could be sold everywhere.
This isn't the first report that Apple may not start its wearable AR headset plans with the expected "Apple Glass." In September 2020, Jean-Louis Gassee predicted Apple would start with Virtual Reality goggles.
38 Comments
Hard pass!
Not sure why the issue over the prescription lenses. I’ve taken frames I already had and lenses were made and installed in them.
Seems like AR (apple has shown interest in and released development tools for) is meaningfully different than VR. I wouldn’t necessarily place a VR headset along the roadmap to AR glasses. The only really meaningful commonality is the need to greatly shrink the electronics.
I was ready to upgrade the Oculus Go to a Quest 2 but when it became known that a verified ID and a Facebook account were absolute requirements those plans got shelved.
The Quest 2 and pricing are attractive but Facebook screwed up by trying to force users into their claws.
I don't mind using WhatsApp or Oculus 'by' Facebook but I don't want to be full on inside Facebook.
I hope I'm not alone and others have shelved purchase plans. There is now hopefully a self induced gaping hole in the market for others to fill.
Apple could do it but only if they get pricing right along with a couple of other vital elements:
Battery life
Image quality
Keeping the device from overheating
I don’t really see what the big deal is with two devices. I don’t take my iPad outside my home unless I’m traveling and I certainly wouldn’t use a full blown VR headset in public either. However, outside the home I’m rarely without my iPhone and only without my watch if I somehow forget it. Similarly, I don’t take my Beats Studio headphones outside my home but always have my AirPods. Apple’s devices fit specific use cases and (as long as I have total control over privacy, ads, displayed content etc) I can’t wait for an Apple Glass AR/HUD device for “everyday” use and an immersive dedicated VR device. I’ll take both. I want both. I’m pretty sure that if done right, Glass will have an even quicker and more ubiquitous adoption than iPhone did.