Expected to be launched in 2020, as predicted by the most accurate Apple Analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple AR glasses might be the future product that will “blow you away” that CEO Tim Cook promised. He also predicted that mass production will start somewhere between the last quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2020. Secret patents filed and secret meetings with companies specialising in the supply of AR technology add fuel to the fire of speculations surrounding Apple’s mystery project. If that is not enough, Apple is already incorporating new AR features to its iPhone models to be released in the future which might just be its way of prepping the world for the new AR glasses. Moreover, CEO Tim Cook made a momentous statement on a conference call to investors last year speaking of augmented reality as “one of those huge things we’ll look back at and marvel on the start of it.”

According to several high-profile rumours, Apple glass (code-named Project T288) will be released as an accessory for its iPhones. An April 19 continuation patent sparked further proof that it is the iPhone which will play the role of an engine for the glasses for the generation of interactive holograms. The glasses will depend on a wirelessly connected iOS device for processing, rendering, location services, and everything else. Instead of a CPU or graphics processor, it will only have camera sensors, wireless connectivity electronics and a display. That will make the glasses lighter and less battery hungry than its competitors like Hololens 2. What’s more, it might even be less expensive than the competition (Hololens 2 is priced at $3,500). Apple supplier Quanta Computer has speculated it to hit the market with a flagship price of $1000, unreliable as the bid may be with no product precedent to support it.

As far as speculations go, they also hint at a gesture control system and a built-in accelerometer which can detect head motions which means, ideally speaking, a simple shake of the head should be sufficient to take you on a tour of the holograms of a photo album. This speculation finds its support in an April 4 patent which stipulates that the device would be able to track “chewing, blinking, winking, smiling, eyebrow-raising, jaw-motioning, mouth-opening and head gestures.” However, as theories go, to realise this in actuality might still be a shout into the blue.

Requiring an iOS to power the glasses seems just like an Apple thing to do. In addition to higher graphics quality, longer battery life and a better form factor, it has the potential to keep people glued to the Apple ecosystem. If it delivers on the promises, people might just jump ship and buy an iOS device. Though it sounds like a far fetched idea, it is a clever attempt from Apple’s end which has itself claimed that the company’s revenue from iPhone sales has declined by 15% since 2018.

Apple Inc confirmed its acquisition of a Colorado-based startup, Akonia Holographics, which signals that Apple has ambitions to create a wearable device that would superimpose digital information on the real world. Unlike its adversaries which include Microsoft’s Hololens and Magic Leap’s Magic Leap One which use darkened lenses suitable only for indoor use, Apple’s aim seems to be higher than that: to produce crystal clear optical displays thin and light enough to fit into glasses similar to everyday frames and to top it all, it aims at generating images bright enough to be suited for outdoor use. It goes without saying, the project is too ambitious to be a cakewalk and how much of it is going to be realised in the near future is something that we’ve just got to wait and see.

https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/apple-glasses/

https://www.inverse.com/article/53927-apple-ar-glasses-launch-date-price-features

https://www.techradar.com/news/apple-ar-glasses-release-date-news-and-rumors

https://www.inverse.com/article/53927-apple-ar-glasses-launch-date-price-features-wearable