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Apple's AR/VR Headset Display Specs: 5000+ Nits Brightness for HDR, 1.41-Inch Diagonal Display and More

Rogifan said:
What is it for? Some of the things Jason Snell mentioned on Gruber’s podcast (mostly around sports) didn’t seem very compelling. I can’t imagine many people will want to wear bulky googles to consume sports.
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My guesses - productivity as #1. Put apps "anywhere" on your desk/workspace, pick them up and move them around like physical objects, resize them freely. Entertainment will be another big push, especially with the display quality advantage they have. Fitness will be a third pillar with Fitness+ workouts "in the studio" and some fitness games. Communication/collaboration will also be a focus, though this one I'm less clear on since having a headset on prevents you from sitting in front of a camera for a zoom call. But SharePlay will definitely play a role. Then finally, gaming.
 
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I can't wait, in order to select objects after your eyes focuses on the object you'll have to make that mouse clicking sound with your mouth. If one has a stutter, just forget about it.
 
If the specs are really good and I can plug it into my MacBook to use as external displays while I am traveling, I will 100% be sold. I need the screen space, but obviously can take dual displays to a hotel room, cruise ship, airplane, etc...
 
Regarding the nits, a quote from the Twitter thread: 5000 nits isn't "great" for pancake lenses, really. It's decent (better than most), but 10k-20k-30k is what you want. 5000 X 15% (pancake) X 10% (duty cycle) = 75 nits to the eye. It's OK, not bad, but not great either.

So I think it remains to be seen what it'll really mean in practice.
 
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It's interesting to note that a 1.41" diagonal matches a square 1"x1" display, which would make sense since the viewport of the eye is roughly circular. At 4000 PPI, that would mean a 4000x4000 pixel display (one for each eye). If the aspect ratio is actually wider (not square), 4000 PPI would imply more than 4K in width.
 
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jclardy said:
My guesses - productivity as #1. Put apps "anywhere" on your desk/workspace, pick them up and move them around like physical objects, resize them freely. Entertainment will be another big push, especially with the display quality advantage they have. Fitness will be a third pillar with Fitness+ workouts "in the studio" and some fitness games. Communication/collaboration will also be a focus, though this one I'm less clear on since having a headset on prevents you from sitting in front of a camera for a zoom call. But SharePlay will definitely play a role. Then finally, gaming.
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I think those are right on and will dazzle.

For that Communication/Collaboration "problem," we are led to believe that these will have cameras to capture our facial expressions. If so, then consider this technology as a possible solution with goggles on...


That girl doesn't even exist and yet you see quite a range of apparent emotion in this video. Apple already has face scans of most of us to make Face ID work. Apparently those scans are so good, they can tell any one of us from any other person. Apple wouldn't have to create a person from scratch- like that virtual woman- but could work from actual reality of our own scanned faces.

Perhaps Goggle cameras capture our reactions in group meetings and our virtual self that looks just like us without goggles mimics those same reactions? That puts the very best possible version of ourselves in these virtual meetings regardless of what we might actually look like in the moment.

Bonus: just as one can apply a filter to a photo to make subjects look better, imagine filters applied to our virtual selves to make us look our very best. One might be sitting somewhere in their housecoat with messy hair, etc but the person the rest of the people in the meeting sees is the filtered version looking as polished as possible.

Again, Apple already has our faces scanned. Goggles ARE rumored to track facial expressions. Put those two together and virtual us- perhaps filtered to perfection appearance- could represent us in virtual meetings. Nobody sees Goggles even if everyone "there" are all sitting somewhere all around the world with all participants in Goggles.
 
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sunny5 said:
I dont see the point for this one.
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I feel the same.

I‘m still hopeful that Apple manages to make VR more mainstream, but given the specs and the likely price tag I can‘t see this reaching a wide audience. And maybe it isn’t meant to be, but I‘d be happy if they do somehow because the tech is super cool. If it were to trickle down into more budget-friendly options and software developers finally start to focus more on VR development, then it could be amazing.
 
I would have guessed that a display that‘s so close to your eyes in a dark surrounding would need much less brightness rather than more.
 
klasma said:
Regarding the nits, a quote from the Twitter thread: 5000 nits isn't "great" for pancake lenses, really. It's decent (better than most), but 10k-20k-30k is what you want. 5000 X 15% (pancake) X 10% (duty cycle = 75 nits to the eye. It's OK, not bad, but not great either.

So I think it remains to be seen what it'll really mean in practice.
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The Valve Index has just under a 5% duty cycle.
The PS VR2 has a duty cycle that is probably above 10% when set to maximum brightness, and causes some smearing of the image when you move your head.
As resolution increases, having a lower duty cycle becomes more important.
 
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Rumours are that Apple will infact be releasing these as an actual "PRO" product.

People seem unable to wrap their heads around this fact. A Pro product with Pro level lenses for capturing content in stereoscopic 3d. —-> For youtube, for wherever stereoscopic 3d video content is consumed.

Pro level LiDAR to digitize content for AR/VR and game/animation dev.



I believe the rumours are correct, Apple will have two quite distinct versions of Apple XR. The Pro version will be a no-frills device aimed at creating PRO level content in XR.

The consumer device will be for consuming and experiencing AR/VR content, and do communication. Hopefully it will integrate with iPhone for added functionality. THIS is the device Apple wanted to ship, but the technology just isnt there yet. BUT will fully be in 2026-2027.

I believe that by 2027, there will be a high bandwidth bluetooth-like connection for XR glasses, and the nanolenses will be in full production. Allowing for the glasses that will look like regular glasses AND the proper adoption by a mass market.


Is that two separate products in 2027?

Apple XR Pro, heftier and more batterylife/more lenses and Lidar sensors for content creation.

And Apple XR for the masses.


I suspect that is what we will see. But who knows. My guess is we will know alot more come June 5th.
 
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Corefile said:
What problem are these Apple goggles going to solve?
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You know some people hated cars and the combustion engine because they loved their horse and buggy and there were not enough paved roads! Others hated digital cameras because they wanted to stick with film that took a week to develop and they said that digital image quality was inferior. Think about it!
 
This Concept render by Ian Zelbo is clearly made by a person not familiar with Apple's design strategy or product history. Apple already has a product that sits on your head, AirPods Max, which people are getting familiar with and testing to the fullest. Why would Apple design a cheap (and uncomfortable!) looking plastic swimwear strap on their 3D glasses?
 
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