Kuo: Apple AR headset to launch in late 2022 with an M1-like chip and no tethering to a Mac or an iPhone; Apple wants to replace the iPhone with AR in 10 years
Apple's long-rumored augmented reality (AR) headset project is set to bear its first fruit late next year with the launch …
MacRumorsEric Slivka
Context & Ripple Effects
Earlier reporting described an Apple headset that would rely on the iPhone for rendering and connectivity, while an even earlier account envisioned displays connected to a separate compute box. Kuo’s latest report instead places M1-like processing inside the headset, making the project a prospective standalone device rather than a Mac or iPhone accessory.
First-order effects
Apple’s reported design shifts the processing and connectivity burden from the iPhone or Mac to the headset itself, raising the importance of Apple’s in-device silicon for the product.
The iPhone and Mac would no longer be required companions for the reported headset, changing their role from host devices to separate products in Apple’s lineup.
Second-order effects
A standalone headset gives Apple a clearer route to position AR hardware alongside, rather than as an extension of, its existing computing devices.
The reversal from the earlier iPhone-dependent headset plan indicates that Apple’s AR timetable and product architecture have been revised together, after prior launch expectations had already slipped.
Third-order effects
If Apple executes on its stated aim to replace the iPhone with AR devices over roughly a decade, its device strategy would move toward self-contained spatial-computing hardware rather than phone-tethered peripherals.
The project illustrates a broader contest over whether advanced on-device chips can make new computing interfaces independent of the smartphones that initially support them.
The trend: AR hardware is being framed less as a smartphone accessory and more as a potential standalone successor to the phone-centric computing model.
Rumor has it... an initial @Apple #AR headset will be able to operate independently without needing to be tethered, and Apple is intending it to support a “comprehensive range of applications” with an eye toward replacing the #iPhone within 10 yrs https://www.macrumors.com/...
Apple's rumored augmented reality glasses would make an amazing platform for blindness computer vision apps. Imagine a 1st-person audio game sound overlay for the real world. Real objects would seem to produce locator sounds. https://www.cnbc.com/...
I would not be surprised if @Apple launched smartglasses in 2022: https://www.cnbc.com/... If so, I bet millions will adopt iGlasses with AR that don't have surveillance-as-a-service in firmware, instead of VR goggles that collect all of your meta data on an “embodied Internet.” …
This ain't happening. (AR replacing smartphones) Phone is too good a form factor to be displaced, it will only be augmented. https://www.techmeme.com/...
The real battle of XR is the chip makers. Qualcomm vs Apple (for now) Why? Well, what is holding back XR the most? Field of View Graphics Resolution Size Weight Heat Cost Battery Life What improves all of that? *drumroll* The chip powering the headset. This is a chip war.
Also part of this Hand Tracking Object Recognition Facial tracking Body tracking Well basically everything is being limited by what the mobile chips can do Using low enough energy without producing too much heat.
On the idea of ‘AR replacing the iPhone’, it certainly has the potential to. And desktop computing. Virtually nobody believed the smartphone would replace the PC, but that's the reality for a great many people — it didn't take 10 years, either. Whither AR in 20? 50? 100 years?
Per Kuo: Apple glasses will have a version of the M1 processor, which Apple uses in Macs. Those processors have been universally praised for their power and efficiency. https://twitter.com/...
We have been waiting eight years already for Apple's visual headphone. I wrote three books in that time about the technology. Less than one to go. https://twitter.com/...
NEWS: Apple AR Headset Coming Late 2022 With Mac-Level Computing Power • M1-Like Chip • Independent Operation (no iPhone required) • Support a Comprehensive Range of Applications. Replace iPhone Within 10 years • Two 4K Micro OLED displays from Sony https://www.macrumors.com/...
Personally, I don't think the iPhone will ever be completely replaced by Apple's AR headsets. Like the iPad and MacBook, I suspect AR headsets and smartphones will co-exist, simply becoming extensions of eachother. https://twitter.com/...
Analyst Kuo mentions Apple will be using dual 4K OLED MICRODISPLAYS from Sony for their VR/AR HMD And equipped with two processors. An M1-type processor and a lower-end processor in charge of sensor-related computing (passthrough AR) https://www.macrumors.com/...