According to 9to5Mac, Apple is currently developing iPhone-powered augmented reality (AR) glasses that they plan to produce by Q2 2020 at the latest. The news of this development comes from Ming-Chi Kuo, analyst for Taiwanese securities underwriting company KGI Securities who has successfully predicted Retina displays in the 2012 MacBook Pro, Touch ID, and the Apple Watch Series 2. Kuo states that the AR glasses will act as a display, with all of the computing powering coming from the iPhone in the user’s pocket. This process appears similar to that of the Apple Watch, though Kuo’s report does not state that relationship explicitly.
The approach that Apple is taking seems to be in line with how Oculus is approaching consumer extended reality (XR). By providing light-weight, affordable, and approachable technologies, that has a better chance of inviting the uninitiated consumer into this wide and varied world. The difference between here is that (similarly to Nintendo), Apple’s brand has more clout than that of Oculus with general consumers. Whether this approach works or not, though, will have to wait until 2020.
