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Apple Cancels Mac-Connected AR Smart Glasses
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Meta headsets sell for less than 1/10th the price of Apple’s.
If the Vision Pro has sold 150,000 units then its doing extremely well.
I just want some glasses that act like a monitor I can wear on a plane. Is that so hard?
It’s hard in a true “glasses” form factor. The tech just doesn’t exist yet. But in a “ski goggles” form factor, this product isn’t far off.
With the exception of XReal Air Ultras these aren’t augmented reality products or barely spatial computers. They’re head worn displays. It’s not entirely clear the benchmark of experience in the report of what Vision Product Group is aiming for. But I don’t think there are interested in making head worn displays that have no understanding of reality to augment.
Having said that I am curious how the XReal Air Ultras (their only true AR product they offer) perform.
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Ah the familiar acrid scent of Apple vapourware.
Not a good look and another pin in the self-inflated balloon of “innovation”. Then again they couldn’t even get a 3-way power charger to work consistently and safely.
Given the barriers here, wouldn’t surprise me if the next gen/non-prototype AVP goes the same way.
Fear not however, all hail the magical Wall-Mounted iPad…errr, sorry iHub.
Not a good look and another pin in the self-inflated balloon of “innovation”. Then again they couldn’t even get a 3-way power charger to work consistently and safely.
Given the barriers here, wouldn’t surprise me if the next gen/non-prototype AVP goes the same way.
Fear not however, all hail the magical Wall-Mounted iPad…errr, sorry iHub.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
If you don't demand high resolution, those exist and work with Mac...
Here's a selection of them...
It's when you start demanding 4K-per-eye for sharp images and some kind of blackout filter to block intruding light, etc that then leads to why Vpro is as it is... and costs towards what it costs.
They all look great in promotional overviews like these... even get talked up as "sharp & clear" by these people. But then you go look for "average Joe" reviews and you get the magic word (that obviously accompanies lower resolution lenses and "cheaper")...
BLURRY!
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Not for another 20-25 years minimum. Graphene still isn't a thing for batteries.
After the lackluster Apple Vision Pro sales, Apple probably doesn’t want to put big money into another major AR product.
The XReal One is (just) a display and not AR. It's tethered to a device and only shows what's on your Mac/phone/etc. And at a lower resolution - 1080p.
I appreciate companies like Apple and Meta and XReal making these not-quite-there devices - this is clearly the future of personal computing to some degree. I'm going to sit on the sidelines though. As I have no need for anything like this, I think waiting for what we all recognize as a real breakthrough device is the smart way to go. Give it a couple years.
If I ran Apple, I wouldn't kill it. I'd put it on a back burner and wait for Taiwan Semi to catch up with my design. Meantime, we're better off not wearing something with lithium batteries around our eyes. You only get 2, and when they're gone, you won't need the glasses anymore.
Yes but it indirectly addresses the problem. Components inside Macs are not as small, light and power efficient as the ones in their mobile devices. It's kind of a no brainer story. Some of the same components that Apple is currently purchasing or developing in-house for iPhone and AirPods will probably end up in Vision Pro and eventually these iGlasses so they might be getting closer.
Apple could have made them thicker like Meta's Orion AR glasses, but then users would look like this dork
But the price, though. Lol. Man, those things would be priced higher than the AVP.
Apple's "core value" used to be their ability to release of SOTA electronics with incredible, small-form-factor design (iPhones) with "just works" ecosystem software at afforadable (yet premium) prices. Did they lose this ?? Did they allow contractors to take on much of the responsibility ?? Do not know. Pretty sure, though, that these types of glasses (rather than a car) would have been in Apple's competitive wheelhouse. Now Meta has the confidence to move into Apple's previous space. If someone wins in this space, it may be important. Apple's "least risk to shareholder value path", however, is likely continued maximization of services revenue and protecting Google's yearly payment. Tim... Steve... who really knows.
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The short term solution seems apparent. If it won’t work well enough with a Mac or iPhone, then create a new device that does. Whether it’s an item that fits in your pocket or around your neck, put the brains and most of the battery in that item and make the glasses a dumb display. There are AR glasses now that do such a thing. A while back while looking at AR glasses, I found a Viture where you wear a neck band that looks like one of those neck air conditioner units that also holds cameras to read hand gestures. They have an upcoming Viture Pro neckband that has those hand gesture cameras, is silent, and doesn’t heat up. I almost got one this last Black Friday but the neckband was in limited supply so I didn’t bother.
I don't it the glasses per se, it's the google search engine loss of money. I still apple needs to buy one and go with it. 20 billion is a lot of money
All it means is Apple isn't pursuing it further at this time. Calling it cancelled is a click bait sort of take on it. All companies work on innovation and some things go well, others don't. You learn from research, success, and failure.
Years ago no one heard about things like this since leaks didn't pop up endlessly on social media. I thought it was bad in the BBS days, but it's now become rather nutty.
Let companies do research. So many on the site say there is no innovation, but there is no way to do that without swinging on research.
I'm still waiting for my new Apple TVSet. 🤣
Years ago no one heard about things like this since leaks didn't pop up endlessly on social media. I thought it was bad in the BBS days, but it's now become rather nutty.
Let companies do research. So many on the site say there is no innovation, but there is no way to do that without swinging on research.
I'm still waiting for my new Apple TVSet. 🤣
Reminder these are not shipping. They cost ~$10k per unit. If even bulker, what? you save a few grand? Best you have that is comparable on the market to Project Orion today is the Magic Leap 2 ($3,500).