Apple's iPhone-connected AR smart glasses might be just months away from a production start.
Apple's rumored interest in building augmented reality hardware is pretty much as old as time, with speculation from multiple reliable sources over the years fueled by everything Tim cook regarding the potential of AR technology. But as the tech giant's CEO and vast majority of industry pundits have repeatedly cautioned, it's still smartglasses-type product.
We may not have to wait that long, though, as mass production for Apple's first augmented reality device to start no later than the second quarter of 2020. That's essentially the worst case scenario right now, with the veteran analyst suggesting manufacturing operations could even be underway as early as this year, which would all but guarantee a commercial rollout in 2020.
Your iPhone will be the brains of the operation
While AR (augmented reality) headsets haven't taken off yet, there are many VR (virtual reality) and MR (mixed reality) products around that are slowly but steadily rising in popularity. For the time being, the distinction between all these reality-enhancing and reality-replacing experiences is not extremely clear, although the consensus among companies like Apple and Fb seems to be that AR has a much brighter future than VR technology.
That being said, there is an important and crystal clear distinction already being made between standalone head-mounted displays like the Microsoft HoloLens or Oculus Go and tethered products like the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift. Most rumors and inside reports have called for a in this fledgling market, and Kuo is once again supporting the iPhone-connected theory.
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