Apple and the augmented reality viewer: when will it arrive?

Is Apple's augmented reality headset finally coming? Those who expected an announcement at the WWDC on 6 June remained with a bitter taste: the Cupertino company did not mention its viewer for, according to them, "fear that the competition will copy us". Apple has been working in the augmented reality sector for a while: the goal is to enter this market and make it profitable for the company.

For Ming-Chi Kuo, however, there would be a date for the viewer . The KGI Securities analyst, who has been predicting Apple news with good precision for years, said he was quite certain of the presentation date of the device. Furthermore, according to the analyst, the apple company will be able to revolutionize the augmented reality market.

Apple's AR / VR sector is working on several projects, including Apple Glasses, a product that will arrive only after the viewer. The news has not yet been made official, but it has been rumored for a long time that the company's efforts to break into the virtual and augmented reality market.

Apple's augmented reality headset

The headset will be the most complex project ever made by Apple . Kuo said this in his note on the company's AR / VR headset, which is why development is taking so long. Many rumors have been heard on the device, even in recent years, but now it seems that the time is ripe.

According to sources close to the company, the viewer will support both augmented and virtual reality functions . The device will be similar to the virtual reality headsets already on the market, such as the Oculus. The rumors claim that the viewer will have 3 displays, 2 of which will be micro OLED and with 4K resolution. The third screen will be an AMOLED, which could be used for peripheral vision. The viewer will have more than 12 cameras to track the movement of the hands and map the environment. 8 of these will be used for augmented reality features.

The viewer will be equipped with a dedicated operating system called, again according to rumors, " realityOS " . Apple seems to want to create an App Store designed only for the device, from which to draw for video games and video content. FaceTime could also be transported to virtual reality, and a 3D memoji will appear instead of the interlocutor's face.

So when will Apple's augmented reality headset come out? Kuo stated that the company will present the device in January 2023. On the release date, however, there is no news yet; if the announcement date is true, the headset could hit the market by around mid-2023. For the price we are talking about a figure of around 3000 dollars (about 2800 euros at the current date).

Not just a viewer: the Apple Glass

In addition to the augmented reality viewer, Apple also has Glasses , augmented reality glasses that will work together with the iPhone . Compared to the viewer, which will be autonomous, the AR glasses will rely on mobile software. It is a tool to be used on a daily basis, a bit like Facebook's RayBan .

The Apple Glasses will be quite similar to normal eyeglasses. On both lenses there will be displays with which to interact through gestures . The screens will be OLED and will have a resolution of 1280 × 960 pixels. There are still no statements on the use of glasses, but it is likely that they will be used to read notifications, messages and answer phone calls with gestures .

For the Apple Glasses, however, we will have to wait until 2024, at least according to the rumors reported. The partner for the production will be Luxshare. The price, on the other hand, should start at $ 499 for the basic lenses, and will go up for the prescription ones.

The article Apple and the augmented reality viewer: when will it arrive? was written on: Tech CuE | Close-up Engineering .