Report: Apple AR Headset With Rumored $2,000+ Price Tag to Enter Mass Production in Second Quarter of 2022

[MacRumors]

Apple's augmented reality headset will enter mass production in the second quarter of next year, with a launch expected between the third and fourth quarter of 2022, according to a translated report from the Taiwanese version of DigiTimes.

In June, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo offered a similar timeline for Apple's AR headset, reporting it will launch sometime between April and June of next year. According to today's report, Apple's AR headset has completed its second phase of prototype testing, inching closer to being ready for primetime mass production.

The first iteration of Apple's AR headset may be a bit bulky in design, similar to the Oculus Rift headset, but a sleeker pair of "Apple Glasses" could launch a few years later. In recent years, Apple has been building up its AR platform, rolling out several AR-centric features on iOS and iPadOS, possibly paving the way for the "Apple Glasses."

Apple's AR headset isn't expected to be cheap in price, at least at the start. One report says that it will feature at least 15 camera modules, feature eye-tracking, possibly iris recognition, and could cost between $2,000 and $3,000.

Article Link: Report: Apple AR Headset With Rumored $2,000+ Price Tag to Enter Mass Production in Second Quarter of 2022

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Should start off with $1000. Since, its first-generation product. But we all know It's going to be Tim Cook's last product to introduce in his life. So, he's going to try to get paid as much as he can.

 

[Rychiar]

but will apple even allow porn 🤔

 

[Le0M]

Release in the second quarter probably means a lunch a few months before that to allow devs to adapt/create apps to the new device.
So perhaps the headset will be announced within the first few months of 2022.
What do you guys think?

 

[jayducharme]

could cost between $2,000 to $3,000

LOL! Who would buy it? Gamers certainly have plenty of other less expensive options. It's already been demonstrated that both VR and AR goggles are a niche market at best, and that most people (currently) have no need for them. What would the average user do with a $2000 set of Apple goggles? See what an Ikea table would look like in their dining room? I don't think so. Apple would have to turn their reality distortion field up to 11 in order to convince people that this is something they need.

 

[contacos]

Why? Apple isn’t a game developing company and they can barely keep Arcade alive with games from 10 years ago. What are you possibly going to do with it … measure your 40 Euro IKEA table with a 2k device? AR is a gimmick to me trying to fix an issue that doesn’t exist to simply exist itself. How often are you using the LIDAR scanner on your iPhone / iPad?

 

[yossi]

I bet this is a medical and commercial device aimed at surgeons and other similar industrial applications

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

Release in the second quarter probably means a lunch a few months before that to allow devs to adapt/create apps to the new device.
So perhaps the headset will be announced within the first few months of 2022.
What do you guys think?

Agreed. Announcement in 6-9 months.

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

LOL! Who would buy it? Gamers certainly have plenty of other less expensive options. It's already been demonstrated that both VR and AR goggles are a niche market at best, and that most people (currently) have no need for them. What would the average user do with a $2000 set of Apple goggles? See what an Ikea table would look like in their dining room? I don't think so. Apple would have to turn their reality distortion field up to 11 in order to convince people that this is something they need.

“Who could possibly want or ever need a smartphone let alone an iPhone?”….people said over and over

 

[Nabby]

 

[Aichon]

High-end AR/VR hardware has felt for as long as I can remember like a classified ad that reads “hammer in search of nail”. We have yet to find the nail.

 

[BootLoxes]

Let me be able to extend my m1 mac to multiple ar screens that i can put on my walls and im sold. This is what i expect the goal of universal control to be for

 

[Razeus]

Tim has probably got to be the most successful CEO that never launched a product.

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

Apple has a way of introducing products no one wants or needs but in a couple of years no one can do without

 

[Zoboomafoo]

Tim has probably got to be the most successful CEO that never launched a product.

well, Apple Watch and AirPods happened under him.

 

[laptech]

VR for consumers, it's only use is for games. For business customers, if they wanted to use VR they would have already purchased an Oculus or Hive headset. In my opinion Apple is going to have a hard time getting their VR into the market because the market is already saturated with Oculus and Hive headsets and any business wanting to use them would have already purchased expensive windows machines to do the job. VR has proved very popular with product designers because they are able to look at their design as if it was in the real world and react to it as though it was in the real world. Apple would need to have a spectualar device if it wants to steal business away from Oculus and Hive.

 

[JOLoughlin]

Release in the second quarter probably means a lunch a few months before that to allow devs to adapt/create apps to the new device.
So perhaps the headset will be announced within the first few months of 2022.
What do you guys think?

yea good call. IIRC the iPhone and Watch both were announced months before release for the same reasons. Seems likely for this new product category and likely new platform. I still believe it will be treated as partly a new display type. meaning macOS, iPadOS and iOS apps will run on it (if devs agree for their app?) (similar to Oculus Quest’s Oculus Link and AirLink) but of course some ARKit apps and whatever native OS is on the device.

 

[JOLoughlin]

VR for consumers, it's only use is for games. For business customers, if they wanted to use VR they would have already purchased an Oculus or Hive headset. In my opinion Apple is going to have a hard time getting their VR into the market because the market is already saturated with Oculus and Hive headsets and any business wanting to use them would have already purchased expensive windows machines to do the job. VR has proved very popular with product designers because they are able to look at their design as if it was in the real world and react to it as though it was in the real world. Apple would need to have a spectualar device if it wants to steal business away from Oculus and Hive.

Vive* There are plenty of other uses for VR other than games and entertainment. Education, communication, recording/replaying content, productivity. Pretty much everything you use a home computer for already and more. But agree VR space is competitive right now as it is but so was the smartphone market in 2006 (not saying Apple will revolutionize this space the same as iPhone did though, no need for overhype). It will likely have passthrough AR capabilities. The uses for AR are very different than the uses for VR.

 

[jayducharme]

“Who could possibly want or ever need a smartphone let alone an iPhone?”….people said over and over

Yes, but back then lots of people were using smartphones (and "dumb" phones); it's just that the experience was really underwhelming. Apple figured out how to make the experience better and more useful. But hardly anyone is using VR/AR goggles outside of the gaming community. So while I concede that maybe Apple will figure out how to make a better AR experience with the goggles, I still don't see many people wanting them. But I'm happy for Apple to prove me wrong. 😄

 

[Rockanrolero]

The only reason I could ever imagine myself wanting one is if it corrected my vision like regular eyeglasses… if not what’s the point of using these over my prescription eyewear 🤔

 

[cmaier]

Should start off with $1000. Since, its first-generation product. But we all know It's going to be Tim Cook's last product to introduce in his life. So, he's going to try to get paid as much as he can.

So the rule is Price = Generation x $1000?

That must be new. The Apple II cost $666.66, and the first generation Mac cost $2500.

Also, very consumer-friendly of you to posit that a first generation product should cost $1000 regardless of what capabilities it has, how much it costs to produce, how competitive it is with the competition, etc.

 

[Psychicbob]

I see rich people

 

[fbr$]

$2000+ Apple AR Headset to play Apple Arcade games? 😂

 

[ChrisMoBro]

Why? Apple isn’t a game developing company and they can barely keep Arcade alive with games from 10 years ago. What are you possibly going to do with it … measure your 40 Euro IKEA table with a 2k device? AR is a gimmick to me trying to fix an issue that doesn’t exist to simply exist itself. How often are you using the LIDAR scanner on your iPhone / iPad?

I went to a Gruffalo event where your child goes to certain areas in a forest and find different animals from the book. My daughter was so bored after the first one and you felt disconnected from the environment every time you grabbed your phone. The kids were told to stand next to an empty space whilst parents took photos with the digital creatures. It would have been far better to just have actual 3D statues. Plus the app, which must have cost a bomb, was shockingly poor. AR is overrated.

 

[twolf2919]

Not sure what an "AR Headset" even is: if it's augmenting reality, then it can only be glasses - i.e. something that lets reality reach the human eye, augmented with additional information. If it's a headset - especially one like the one shown at the top of this article, is obviously a VR headset, since it's opaque in the front. Any reality that it might capture via sensors/cameras and reconstitute for the human eye is, becomes virtual in the process.