Wired
According to the “Bloomberg” Mark Gurman report, Apple’s first AR/VR headset will be an expensive but very innovative device, and a more ambitious augmented reality product will take longer to develop.
The initial device has faced multiple development obstacles, and Apple is also conservative about the time to market for the device, which also shows how challenging it is to bring this technology to the public.
As a virtual reality-based device, it will display an all-round three-dimensional digital environment for games, video watching and communication. The AR function, that is, the ability to superimpose images and information on the view of the real world, will be relatively limited. Some sources said that Apple has planned to launch the product as soon as 2022, competing with Facebook’s Oculus, Sony’s PlayStation VR, and HTC Vive.
Apple’s typical approach is to make emerging consumer technologies reliable and easy to use, such as music players, smartphones, tablets, and smart watches, but this time, Apple does not want to create a popular category similar to the iPhone for the first AR device . On the contrary, the company is creating a high-end, niche product. All of this is to prepare for more mainstream AR glasses. The first AR headset is launched to allow developers and consumers to get in touch with technology in advance.
These plans indicate that Apple’s first headset will be much more expensive than competitors’ products, which will cost about $300-900. Some Apple insiders believe that the company may only sell one AR headset per day in each retail store. Apple has about 500 Apple Stores, so in this case, annual sales will just exceed 180,000 units-not including other sales channels. This will put it on par with other expensive Apple products, such as the $5,999 Mac Pro. An Apple spokesperson declined to comment.
Apple’s goal is to add some of the most advanced and powerful chips to headsets, as well as displays with much higher resolution than existing VR products. The performance of some of the chips tested in this device beats that of the Apple M1 Mac processor. The person concerned said that Apple has also designed a fan on the headset. For Apple, this is very unreasonable. After all, there is no fan in the M1 MacBook Air.
This headset, code-named N301, is in the late prototype stage, but has not yet been finalized, so Apple’s plan may be changed or completely cancelled before launch. The AR glasses code-named N421 are in the early stages of being called “build”, which means that Apple is still studying the underlying technology. According to relevant sources, this product will take several years, but Apple’s previous goal was to launch it as early as 2023.
The addition of powerful processors and fans initially caused the equipment to be too large and heavy. In the early tests, some people worried about neck fatigue.
Apple originally planned to add a less powerful processor and transfer most of the processing company to the central Hub in the user’s home, where the content will be wirelessly transmitted to the headset. But this idea was rejected by Jony Ive, then Apple’s design director. This headset is designed as a standalone device, which means it can work on batteries instead of plugging it into a wall or Mac. This is similar to Facebook’s latest VR products, while Sony’s products require a PlayStation console.
In order to further reduce the weight of the device, Apple plans to use a fabric appearance. This is different from the metal design that Apple uses in most products. HomePod uses fabric to improve acoustics.
The new crown epidemic has disrupted some development work, and Apple hardware engineers can only work in the office on certain days. Apple also faces delays in user testing and data collection. This makes some decisions in the engineering process slow.
All this is for the final AR glasses. AR glasses must be equipped with small, powerful, and efficient electronic devices to superimpose notifications, map directions and other information, while supporting Internet connectivity and strong battery life. This is a huge technical challenge. Even if Oculus released the first all-in-one VR headset in 2019, it will not add AR functionality to this year’s first glasses.
To achieve this, years of effort are required in terms of lens, hardware and software, component miniaturization, production technology, and content creation. The most important thing is that it is very difficult for most people to wear a computer on their faces, even if it is a small computer.
By developing a less mainstream AR headset, Apple can invest in underlying technology, consumer education, content development, and developer relations, so that the final AR glasses have the best chance of success.