No rush. That’s the Apple way of working. Chances are that this and the next year will turn out to be historic for the tech industry as Apple is reportedly in advanced stages with its AR/VR headset.

Rewind. The multi-trillion-dollar company hasn’t had a new device since the Apple Watch launched in 2015. Of course, the company hasn’t been sitting around in these seven years, hoping the iPhone era never ends. A few days ago, when the board members of Apple met, they were reportedly shown the latest version of the headset that has been in the works for several years. Unless a product is in good shape, it won’t be shown to the board. So it could be a sign that the product is in its advanced stages. Reportedly because Apple will never confirm the existence of the device until it is on the stage for public viewing. The headset is codenamed N301 while the OS is codenamed Oak, according to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg.

Why it matters

The Apple AR/VR set will boost the company’s hardware business, which makes up around 80 per cent of sales, a lot of it dominated by the iPhone of course. Apple is looking at the future as to how it can grow its hardware business and different types of hardware that can boost services revenue as well.

No doubt, the demand for the iPhone is holding up better than expected despite supply chain issues because of Covid-related shutdowns in China. But the iPhone can’t be the only golden egg in the basket.

The headset is expected to support mixed reality — both augmented reality and virtual, have cameras on the outside of the headset so real world is visible inside, can work independently from the iPhone and will probably use a version of the company’s proprietary M1 chip.

Things won’t be complicated at first

When the Apple Watch launched, the company learned a lesson very quickly — don’t try to make an iPhone for the wrist right off the starting block. Take baby steps. The first rollout of the headset may show things as simple as notifications on the upper-left corner of your vision and simple overlaying of things in your field of vision. It will give the company enough time to test the water publicly.

The AR/VR set won’t be inexpensive because it’s new technology. Yes, we have said ‘goodbye’ to the iPod this year but it’s never too late to say ‘hello’ to something like the ‘EyePod’

Moving at Apple pace

It’s a really important aspect. The company has enough cash, so it will not rush into something new or try to knockout rivals right away. The idea is to come up with a product that nobody will be able to catch up with for years (or ever). The measured-pace approach can well be seen — give users LiDAR (which we already have), then object capture, then let you take the object capture and put it in Keynote and so on, according a podcast episode from TWiT Tech Podcast Network. Like Philip Elmer-DeWitt wrote on Ped30.com: “The real secret sauce and driver (literally and figuratively) for Apple Inc. moving forward is their silicon, paired with 5G networks…. Augmented reality [AR] glass in my spectacles is one thing, smart AR glass in my windshield is game-changing.”

One of the important decisions that Apple has had to reportedly deal with involves whether to market it as a standalone product or something paired with a base station. “By the time the decision was made, the device’s multiple chips had already been in development for several years, making it impossible to go back to the drawing board to create, say, a single chip to handle all the headset’s tasks,” The Information has reported. “Other challenges, such as incorporating 14 cameras on the headset, have caused headaches for hardware and algorithm engineers.”

At the moment, the VR space is largely dominated by Meta’s Oculus goggles. Mark Zuckerberg’s company is, of course, making big noises with metaverse speak, pitching razzmatazz that could be difficult to live up to. But nobody can deny that Meta is going big with its AR and VR ambitions.

When do we get it?

Frankly, we don’t know. Hints will probably be dropped at the upcoming WWDC convention, maybe we will catch a glimpse of the product when new iPhones get launched later this year and maybe a better look at it will come next year. It won’t be inexpensive because it’s new technology. Yes, we have said ‘goodbye’ to the iPod this year but it’s never too late to say ‘hello’ to something like the ‘EyePod’.

The reported AR/VR headset may have…

• Support for mixed reality — both augmented reality and virtual.
• Cameras on the outside of the headset so real world is visible inside.
• Power to work independently from the iPhone and will probably use a version of the company’s proprietary M1 chip.