Apple reportedly chose a standalone AR / VR headset more than a additional effective tethered layout
Apple’s rumored mixed fact headset appears to be like the worst-kept magic formula in tech, and a new report about the device from The Data (its next this week) is chock full of facts about the unannounced product’s turbulent advancement.
Just one of the most notable pieces of the tale is about Apple’s decision to go with a standalone headset. At one particular point, Apple hadn’t still resolved regardless of whether to move ahead with a more powerful VR headset that would be paired with a foundation station or a standalone one particular. While Apple’s AR / VR chief Mike Rockwell seemingly desired the version with the foundation station — which provided a processor that eventually transported as the M1 Ultra, in accordance to The Info — Apple executives selected to go with the standalone product. Bloomberg noted very similar specifics in 2020.
That decision has apparently had extensive-expression consequences on the enhancement of the headset. “By the time the selection was made, the device’s various chips had presently been in improvement for quite a few years, making it impossible to go back again to the drawing board to build, say, a solitary chip to deal with all the headset’s responsibilities,” The Details claimed. “Other challenges, such as incorporating 14 cameras on the headset, have prompted complications for hardware and algorithm engineers.”
The report also includes information about Jony Ive’s ongoing consultation on the project’s style and design even just after his official departure from Apple. Ive “prefers” a wearable battery, perhaps like what Magic Leap provides. But other prototypes have had the battery in the headset’s headband, and it is unclear which will be applied in the ultimate design and style, The Information and facts says.
Apple reportedly showed the headset to its board of directors previous week, so it could be nearing a public reveal. That said, it may possibly not be introduced till later on this calendar year, and it may not strike shop cabinets until 2023, so we could be waiting around a although to consider it for ourselves. For even further down the line, Apple is developing a pair of AR eyeglasses that seem like Ray-Ban wayfarer eyeglasses, but The Info suggests those are “still lots of years away from release.” (I’m curious how they’ll vary in style from Meta and Ray-Bans’ real wayfarer-like glasses.)
