Kuo: Apple AR Headset Coming in Late 2022 With Mac-Level Computing Power

[Macalway]

I think this may be big. An array of cameras and sensors could be very useful. My only issue is having those types of chips right in my face. Makes me just a tad nervous, considering health risk have never even been addressed, for anything wearable.

People don't care though. Should they? They already have their phone in their face, so no.

 

[Havoc035]

I don’t see something like this replacing the iPhone. It can be useful for things like navigation but why would I want to see for example a website on this?

 

[Macalway]

Ok, so you walk along and you have these labels for everything. You have this sort of thing in your car now, called enhanced navigation, of something. It's nice, but can be very annoying in places.

Life use to be so simple.

 

[terminator-jq]

I genuinely wonder what they believe the killer feature or use is for this.

This is my exact thinking every time I see one of these AR headset articles come up. I don’t doubt the existence of the product but I definitely wonder how Apple will market it.

With a rumored $2000+ price tag, this thing will be priced much higher than comparable headsets from Oculus, Valve and Sony.

The price and specs definitely point to this being a “Pro” device and not just a VR toy. The question is what Pro market? Will this be a new content creation tool (3D modeling in VR would be awesome)?

 

[A MacBook lover]

How is everyone here not seeing how huge this is?

Read carefully. “4K each eye” “see through”

It’s going to be pass through. Meaning you’ll wear it outside and it will completely cover your eyes.

It’s not an overlay, your essentially watching two 4K screens from cameras on the outside.

 

[Abazigal]

I don’t see something like this replacing the iPhone. It can be useful for things like navigation but why would I want to see for example a website on this?

A pair of glasses would have a field of view as wide as you can see, which is way bigger than a 6” iPhone screen.

I think that will be the main selling point - a display that is always in front of you, and which you don’t have to hold up to use.

 

[Jensend]

I never know what "4K" means for VR screens. 4K typically means roughly 4000 by 2000 pixels. Screens used for VR are almost always nearly a 1:1 aspect ratio.

 

[avz]

I don’t see something like this replacing the iPhone. It can be useful for things like navigation but why would I want to see for example a website on this?

It supposed to read your thoughts and upload them to the internet. I don’t know though how this can be useful.

 

[MayaUser]

With a rumored $2000+ price tag, this thing will be priced much higher than comparable headsets from Oculus, Valve and Sony.

You pay a premium price if Apple is doing right .. feels/looks like a pair of normal glasses and not a pair of a large device on your head
Lets see the looks ...on these..like the apple watch...the first important thing must be the shape/looks...the rest can come later..like the apple watch did

 

[Jensend]

I don’t see something like this replacing the iPhone. It can be useful for things like navigation but why would I want to see for example a website on this?

Think about all the new space available for ads! They could cover your walls with ads. 3D pop-up ads that literally pop out of your virtual screen! The possibilities are endless!

 

[hn333]

Most likely Apple will block such a feature, haha! Parental Control at it's finest

Someone will jailbreak it in the first week of release.

 

[Analog Kid]

That’s not how the english language works. WiFi may be less likely to be subject to interference. It may be less sensitive to noise and interference. But it doesn’t “offer less interference.” That would imply it “causes less interference,” which is not true.

Moreover, it operates on the same frequencies as every other recent version of wifi - 2.4GHz and 5GHz, plus a new frequency, 6GHz, which, because of its short wavelength, is much easier to block.

Wifi 6 is the old 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. WiFi 6E is the 6GHz band. The WiFi alliance changed to the new numbering scheme to make things less confusing. See how well that's going?

You're right about the imprecise language. That seems to happen a lot around here (see: CSAM vs anti-CSAM). I think by "less interference" they mean there's less interference in the band, which is a bit of a marketing simplification. There are other uses of that band already-- microwave backhaul in particular. That's a bit of a binary issue-- if you're close to a fixed installation, your geo-location is used to lock out 6GHz use at the full 36dBm power. You can still operate indoors at 30dBm, presumably because penetration is so crappy they expect little power to escape your home.

In general though, you're probably less likely to find yourself somewhere there's ambient 6GHz than you are to be near ambient 2.4 or 5 GHz-- until WiFi 6E comes on line. I think there's a bit of a "there's less interference because nobody's using it yet" mentality here-- just like 5GHz used to be the way to avoid all those basic 2.4GHz rubes until everyone upgraded.

This is still somewhat mitigated by two factors-- one is that there's a lot of available spectrum at 6GHz so there are more channels to spread usage around. The other is that, as you point out, the 6GHz signal doesn't penetrate well-- so signals from close neighbors in urban enviornments are less likely to penetrate your home.

I keep my AP in a closet, so I'll be curious how it compares to 5GHz for me in actual usage.

 

[Nikita_K]

Apple's long-rumored augmented reality (AR) headset project is set to bear its first fruit late next year with the launch of the first device carrying a pair of processors to support its high-end capabilities, according to a new research report from noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo seen by MacRumors.

According to Kuo, the higher-end main processor is said to be similar to the M1 chip Apple introduced for its first set of Apple silicon Macs last year, while a lower-end processor will manage the sensor-related aspects of the device.

Kuo says the initial AR headset will be able to operate independently without needing to be tethered to a Mac or iPhone, and Apple is intending it to support a "comprehensive range of applications" with an eye toward replacing the iPhone within ten years.In addition to AR, Kuo says the headset will also be able to support virtual reality (VR) experiences thanks to a pair of 4K Micro OLED displays from Sony, which require the computing horsepower of an M1-like chip.Last week, Kuo said that both the upcoming headset and the iPhone 14 coming next year will support Wi-Fi 6E technology, which offers the increased bandwidth and lower interference needed for AR and VR experiences.

Article Link: Kuo: Apple AR Headset Coming in Late 2022 With Mac-Level Computing Power

Apple's long-rumored augmented reality (AR) headset project is set to bear its first fruit late next year with the launch of the first device carrying a pair of processors to support its high-end capabilities, according to a new research report from noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo seen by MacRumors.

According to Kuo, the higher-end main processor is said to be similar to the M1 chip Apple introduced for its first set of Apple silicon Macs last year, while a lower-end processor will manage the sensor-related aspects of the device.

Kuo says the initial AR headset will be able to operate independently without needing to be tethered to a Mac or iPhone, and Apple is intending it to support a "comprehensive range of applications" with an eye toward replacing the iPhone within ten years.In addition to AR, Kuo says the headset will also be able to support virtual reality (VR) experiences thanks to a pair of 4K Micro OLED displays from Sony, which require the computing horsepower of an M1-like chip.Last week, Kuo said that both the upcoming headset and the iPhone 14 coming next year will support Wi-Fi 6E technology, which offers the increased bandwidth and lower interference needed for AR and VR experiences.

Article Link: Kuo: Apple AR Headset Coming in Late 2022 With Mac-Level Computing Power

Nobody really cares, I’m afraid… maybe for some business applications it will be useful

 

[Star Brood]

Another gimmick. VR/AR headsets will always be a gimmick as they obstruct the wearer’s view.

 

[huge_apple_fangirl]

A VR headset from Apple seems… odd. Apple has never expressed any interest in VR. It sounds like more of this “metaverse” bull**** that’s become the newest tech buzzword.

I will say this: Apple has a massive advantage in the hardware for this thing because of Apple Silicon. No other company with VR ambitions has access to this sort of low-power, high-performance silicon. And when you’re doing 3D rendering on your face, you’re gonna need it. Imagine trying to stuff a Core i9 and a 3080 into something like that… Yikes

 

[SurferPup]

I'm curious as the styling: Maui Jim, Ray-Ban, Oakley.

 

[return2sendai]

Eyes are quite good.

 

[return2sendai]

I think Kuo is really AR.

 

[return2sendai]

Will it be sold in a jockstrap-shaped case?

 

[return2sendai]

Outta here.

 

[hvfsl]

I sounds to me that they people are mixing up AR and VR. If it is going to have a M1 like cpu, then it is a VR headset (although may have some AR capabilities). The AR headset which might replace the iPhone at some point will need to be a very lightweight device.

 

[wanha]

Replace the iPhone? ?

That stuck out to me, too.

HOWEVER... a wise company won't wait for others to make their products obsolete, but will try to do it themselves.

If this report is true, I applaud Apple for being aggressively proactive.

The worse case scenario here is that the AR/VR glasses won't replace the iPhone and we'll all be using iPhone 24 Pros in 10 years

 

[Marbles1]

Like some of apple's products, this could be a 'I didn't realise I wanted it/needed it'. It'll need a killer app though. E.g. support from 3rd party 3d modelling companies with professional tools.

Apple have never done anything serious with gaming - though it would be amazing if apple launched the device with the announcement that it had also started or bought its own gaming studio, but this has 0 chance of happening.


So I expect any headset will be about creating 3d models / art work / technical drawing. Possibly providing a large virtual screen to work on large scale graphic designs and seeing them 'on location'.

That said - a lot of the real technical design packages aren't available on Mac.

 

[Mr. Dee]

I’ll wait on version 3

 

[whokilledkaji]

We just got a HoloLens to test at work and if Apple can (and I’m sure they will) go a leap beyond what that is… I’m all in.