Apple Working on AR/VR Headset With 8K Displays and No Smartphone or Computer Tether

[DevNull0]

8K in each eye?
I don't buy that for a second.
Outrageously expensive, and complete overkill.

Not to mention, that's 64 million pixels that will need to be updated 90 times a second.

64 megapixels * 3 bytes/pixel * 90 fps * 8 bits/byte. That's a whopping 138 gigabits/second of data.

All on an untethered device.

And how many GTX Ti's will you need in a cluster to get decent graphics quality at that res/framerate?

Then again, Apple thinks a 5k display with integrated graphics is okay, so who knows.

 

[X38]

Apple Watch, Electric Car, HomePod, now AR and VR.

Tim Cook is really throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks.

Everything except for those computer things that is.

 

[toke lahti]

Not to mention, that's 64 million pixels that will need to be updated 90 times a second. All on an untethered device.

Then again, Apple thinks a 5k display with integrated graphics is okay, so who knows.

Or 75Mpx, if the screens have AR of 16:9 & 8192x4608. With 90Hz that’s 6800 Mpx/s. You’ll need a backpack for gpu’s and a trolley for batteries...

 

[TheShadowKnows!]

I clicked on this thread to be entertained by the satire of some posts...

And I was not disappointed.

 

[NT1440]

Qualcomm's Adreno GPU's are far better than the Apple GPU's.

Source? I haven’t looked too far in mobile GPU space but I was under the impression Apple was pulling away from the pack in the same fashion they are in CPU.

 

[TheShadowKnows!]

It just occurred to me...

With the way our democracy is turning, 50% of the electoral mass responsible for this outcome do not want augmented reality at all...

All they crave for is fake reality.

 

[1050792]

Source? I haven’t looked too far in mobile GPU space but I was under the impression Apple was pulling away from the pack in the same fashion they are in CPU.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/12420/snapdragon-845-performance-preview/4

 

[iSteve-O]

Can't same the for the HomePod, but the AirPods are a phenomenal product and a big hit.

What is so phenomenal about the Airpods? It's average at best.

Sounds quality is equivalent to regular Earpods and has almost no sound isolation.

I've had them since day one and rarely use them.

 

[citysnaps]

The analyst reports, and you’re welcome.

OMG, analyst reports. That's a real knee-slapper!

 

[clauzzz203]

Source? I haven’t looked too far in mobile GPU space but I was under the impression Apple was pulling away from the pack in the same fashion they are in CPU.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/12420/snapdragon-845-performance-preview/4

That source is an engineering demo without the thermal constraints of final devices. Even so, it is beaten in the graphics tests by the half year old iPhone 8 and X.

 

[loby]

So it's "not tethered", but you still need a dedicated box that it's wirelessly tethered to, for it to actually work... If that's actually the case, it sounds like it's still in early prototype phases, and not ready for shipping until it can stand on its own without the need for a secondary box.

Yeah..they will use a third party wireless device instead of their own Apple router to make this work..

There, I said it.

 

[Regime2008]

Not true at all, their custom designed GPU's are better than anything else on the market, in like 90% of use cases. Unless you're talking about GPU's in their computers, which they use from Intel, Nvidia or AMD - i.e., not their own.

I disagree, apple uses bottom to mid tiered gpu's, at best. In their phones, they seem to be on par with other flagship devices in real world performance. The throttled "pro" 580 and Vega 56/64 aren't impressive for VR, especially when you talk about 4k. Not to mention 8k x2. This will be like the homepod, just another flop.

 

[JimmyHook]

I love how supposed enthusiasts completely dismiss the idea of dual 8k displays in 2 years. A custom 5 nm chip is perfectly attainable in that timeframe while staying conservatively within Moore’s Law. These same doubters probably are the same ones who thought nobody would ever need more than 640k of RAM (cough... Bill Gates... cough). Don’t bet against the most successful company in the history of the human race. Bad idea
[doublepost=1524878692][/doublepost]

I disagree, apple uses bottom to mid tiered gpu's, at best. In their phones, they seem to be on par with other flagship devices in real world performance. The throttled "pro" 580 and Vega 56/64 aren't impressive for VR, especially when you talk about 4k. Not to mention 8k x2. This will be like the homepod, just another flop.

Their custom GPUs (which the previous person was referring to, not what you find in Macs) are superior to any off the shelf mobile GPU. No disputing that

 

[jamesrick80]

Enjoy being plugged up to a adapter while headset is on so it can continuously charge while you're trying to enjoy a game or movie.......

 

[groovyd]

Thank god! Finally a company gets the 8K resolution that we truly need in VR. Really hoping this comes to fruition.

16k pix total at 90hz is going to require some serious powerful GPU.

 

[JimmyHook]

16k pix total at 90hz is going to require some serious powerful GPU.

Agreed. Better to play the long game and release an excellent 8k worthwhile product than mess around with SDE and other issues.

 

[RickInHouston]

Always seem like these leaks come out to prop up the stock when it's down. However, if true I hope Apple make it cross-platform compatible otherwise it'll end up like Homepod.

Cross platform. You are hilarious!

 

[Erasmus]

Just because such a device would (hopefully) have dual 8K screens, does NOT mean you need Quad SLI Titan V's per eye. You do not have to render every pixel, nor do you have to run Crysis 4 on it. Also, remember that the Vive and Oculus have very narrow FOVs, which should be improved. Doing so would stretch out the pixel density by about 2x horizontally, not vertically, so you'd need more horizontal pixels to get the same quality picture, and 2K/4K/8K terminology measure horizontally.

So, all of this adds up to dual 8K screens not being anywhere near as difficult to run as people here seem to assume. You could run respectable resolutions at reasonable graphics quality on one or two current high-tier gaming cards, then upscale the resolution to show on the 8K screens. It will still look fantastic (slight blurring, but no screen-door), much better than a lower resolution screen.

Obviously I'd hope that such a device could be used in both OSX or Windows to maximise usefulness, however if it ends up being a dedicated iOS style closed box, then you could probably get the required Metal-enhanced performance from the equivalent of 4 iPad Pros.

 

[Abazigal]

Of course Apple is making a AR headset. Was there ever any doubt? The writing has been on the wall since last year, with Face ID, iOS 11 bringing improved AR support and the tech improvements brought about by the Apple Watch and AirPods.

 

[TheSkywalker77]

Oh boy. If Apple releases this I can't wait to see the price of it.

 

[Tech198]

8K, only inches away from your eye ?

i wonder if we'll all start getting headaches.

 

[DevNull0]

I love how supposed enthusiasts completely dismiss the idea of dual 8k displays in 2 years. A custom 5 nm chip is perfectly attainable in that timeframe while staying conservatively within Moore’s Law.

A single $900 GTX 1080 Ti can barely drive a 4k display with a modern game at 60fps if you turn down the settings a bit. While drawing about 300 Watts. An 8k display is 4 times the pixels, 2 of them is 8 times the pixels of a 4k. The fps has to be at least 90fps so now you're rendering 12 times as many pixels as a 4k screen. A dozen GTX 1080 Tis will cost $10,800 and consume 3600 watts; you'll need a special power circuit installed in your home to power it.

Doing that in a single mobile-class chip is a heck of lot more than 2 years away.

 

[RedGala]

This will take time, but I think Apple is going to nail this market.

Not unless they start being more open in their software and attract more name-brand developers.

 

[Regime2008]

I love how supposed enthusiasts completely dismiss the idea of dual 8k displays in 2 years. A custom 5 nm chip is perfectly attainable in that timeframe while staying conservatively within Moore’s Law. These same doubters probably are the same ones who thought nobody would ever need more than 640k of RAM (cough... Bill Gates... cough). Don’t bet against the most successful company in the history of the human race. Bad idea
[doublepost=1524878692][/doublepost]
Their custom GPUs (which the previous person was referring to, not what you find in Macs) are superior to any off the shelf mobile GPU. No disputing that

Idk man... That doesn't seem to be the case...
https://www.anandtech.com/show/12520/the-galaxy-s9-review/6

https://www.anandtech.com/show/12420/snapdragon-845-performance-preview/4

A simple Google search could have helped you and the other guy out. @nepenth
[doublepost=1524886165][/doublepost]

A single $900 GTX 1080 Ti can barely drive a 4k display with a modern game at 60fps if you turn down the settings a bit. While drawing about 300 Watts. An 8k display is 4 times the pixels, 2 of them is 8 times the pixels of a 4k. The fps has to be at least 90fps so now you're rendering 12 times as many pixels as a 4k screen. A dozen GTX 1080 Tis will cost $10,800 and consume 3600 watts; you'll need a special power circuit installed in your home to power it.

Doing that in a single mobile-class chip is a heck of lot more than 2 years away.

Thank you for having common sense and understanding basic logic. So many apple bandwagoners are so out of touch with reality.
[doublepost=1524886669][/doublepost]

This will take time, but I think Apple is going to nail this market.

LOL! that's a funny one!

 

[Abazigal]

Apple Watch, Electric Car, HomePod, now AR and VR.

Tim Cook is really throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks.

While many tech-oriented individuals question Apple's competitiveness and long-term sustainability, it is my opinion that the Apple brand has never been stronger in the eyes of consumers buying the products. We can go even further to say that the Apple brand is so strong these days, consumers are not shocked or surprised to hear rumors about Apple entering new industries like cars.

Meanwhile, the tech press still can't get their hands around the idea of Apple designing its own car, much less a VR / AR headset.

I wonder if this says more about Apple's critics than Apple itself.