There’s also an Oculus Quest rival in the works, apparently
Move over Oculus Quest, Apple could have its Apple AR Glasses ready by 2022, and then have a second ultra-high-resolution VR/AR hybrid headset ready to go by 2023.
That information comes from a new Bloomberg report that provides a deep dive into Apple’s augmented reality launch plans with its two new headsets, codenamed N421 and N301.
The first, the N421, is the Apple AR Glasses you’ve heard rumors about for years. They’re lightweight, but only offer AR through Apple’s existing ARKit technology.
According to the report, however, it’s the latter N301 that’s Apple’s more ambitious play into the gaming VR/AR space: the headset will have a high-resolution display as well as a cinematic speaker system that “will make it almost impossible for a user to differentiate the virtual world from the real one”.
That system will take a number of design cues from the Oculus Quest by using a fabric design and will be wire-free, which was apparently the work of former design chief Jony Ive. It will have its own section in the App Store, apparently, and comes from Apple’s AR team of over 1,000 employees.
What does Apple augmented reality look like?
If you want a full look at Apple’s augmented reality road map, it’s worth reading the Bloomberg piece in full. In it, you’ll find loads of details about how the glasses came together and what the future of Apple’s AR landscape could look like.
