Apple VR/AR headset: tests passed, mass production to start in summer
UPDATEDigitimes adds further information:
- A third test phase EVT 3 is to start soon.
- Subsequently, the Apple glasses are to go into mass production between August and September. The market launch is reportedly scheduled for the end of the year.
- The glasses will mainly be aimed at professional users in selected industries.
Is it actually coming true? Apple's VR-AR glasses are said to have passed an important test and will launch before the end of 2022.
Taiwanese news service Digitimes, citing supply chain sources, reports that Apple has completed the second phase of technical validation testing (EVT 2). According to the report, the prototype of Apple Glasses is expected to meet design goals and specifications.
Apple Glasses: What's next?
Digitimes last reported on a successful prototype test phase in the fall of 2021. Mass production could start on the now passed Engineering Verification Test. Digitimes adds to the current paywalled report that the Apple headset is expected to make its debut at the end of 2022 - whether this means the presentation of the device or the market launch is still unclear.
Most recently, Apple insider Mark Gurman reported that Apple's VR AR glasses have been delayed "by several months" due to overheating. The overheating is said to be related to the more than a dozen cameras installed and their software. The unveiling originally planned for Apple's developer conference WWDC in summer 2022 has been postponed.
According to Gurman, Apple headset won't be released until 2023. However, he did not want to rule out a market launch for late 2022: Apple is reportedly still in contact with some retailers.
WWDC as the next milestone
Even if WWDC is out as an unveiling date for the Apple Glasses according to Gurman, it could still point the way: according to Gurman, Apple wants to focus more on the development of VR and AR apps at the tech conference in June. That would be a clear indication of expanding XR plans, which would reasonably include tech glasses. Currently, Apple is still limited to AR with the smartphone.
For the upcoming headset ecosystem, Apple is also said to be planning with a new operating system - rOS - and a new XR store. Hints of the augmented reality operating system have already surfaced in Apple's source code.
Perhaps the clearest launch hint on Apple's part has nothing to do with tech leaks, but with a person: the company hired Meta's PR manager Andrea Schubert in January 2022. She has been responsible for communications on augmented reality and XR research at Meta's Reality Labs for the past six years.
Read more about Apple:
- U-turn on Hololens: Microsoft follows Meta and Apple - Report
- Apple VR headset: Patent describes solution for an old VR problem
- Virtual Reality: Why Meta need not fear Apple
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