“Apple CEO Tim Cook has nothing but praise for augmented reality, saying it’s a technology that’s potentially as important as the iPhone,” Shara Tibken reports for CNET. “It turns out he may have big plans for virtual reality too.”
“The company is working on a headset capable of running both AR and VR technology, according to a person familiar with Apple’s plans. Plans so far call for an 8K display for each eye — higher resolution than today’s best TVs — that would be untethered from a computer or smartphone, the person said,” Tibken reports. “The project, codenamed T288, is still in its early stages but is slated for release in 2020. Apple still could change or scrap its plans.”
“Apple’s headset would connect to a dedicated box using a high-speed, short-range wireless technology, according to a person familiar with the company’s plans,” Tibken reports. “The box, which would be powered by a custom Apple processor more powerful than anything currently available, would act as the brain for the AR/VR headset. In its current state, the box resembles a PC tower, but it won’t be an actual Mac computer.”
MacDailyNews Take: Of course not. Apple would never stoop to building an actual Mac tower. Perish the thought! 😉
“The future of VR is expected to be cordless devices — and Apple wants to bring its trademark simplicity to the setup. The box would use a wireless technology called 60GHz WiGig, the person familiar with Apple’s plans said,” Tibken reports. “The box to power Apple’s AR/VR headset also would use a 5-nanometer processor… By building its own chips, Apple is able to better control the features it releases, as well as better manage the timeline for introducing new devices. It’s been working on processors to replace Intel’s chips in Mac computers as soon as 2020. The chips used in future Macs would be similar to what Apple would use in its T288 AR/VR project, said the person familiar with the company’s plans.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: “Slated for release in 2020.” So, given Apple’s recent track record, it’ll arrive in 2022 with one lens working and the other waiting for a software update “coming later” that year.
Sorry, we’re in a collective bad mood… but, hey, the keg just rolled by, so things are looking up!
Maybe by 2020, Apple will be fully settled into The Colossal Distraction and have their act together again!
SEE ALSO:
Apple patent application reveals work on eye-tracking technology for VR and AR headsets – April 27, 2018
Apple prepping Micro-LED displays for Apple Watch and Smartglasses for 2019, sources say – April 3, 2018
Apple CEO Cook on the future of fashion, shopping, and AR smartglasses – October 11, 2017
Apple’s AR smartglasses – understanding the issues – August 29, 2017
Bernstein: Apple’s ‘smartglasses’ opportunity ‘could be enormous’ – August 25, 2017
Apple working on several prototypes of AR glasses – August 4, 2017
Apple’s next big move: Augmented reality – August 3, 2017
Apple’s rumored new glasses will be an even bigger deal than the iPhone – July 28, 2017
Apple smart glasses are inevitable – July 28, 2017
Here is a case where Apple using their own CPUs and GPUs makes perfect sense. For VR/AR you *want* to keep weight down, and if it’s cordless the energy efficiency comes into play for sure.
Not only their CPU’s and GPU’s but they can also take advantage of the latest generation of Apple’s other key technology like Image Processing, Motion Detection, Machine Learning Processing and more. All produced by TSMC at a die size smaller than Intel could hope to reach in the same time frame.
I’ve had this thought for a year and a half or so, should be an interesting couple years.
Except the controllers will resemble the AppleTV remote. You’ll never be able to tell which is left, which is right. Heck, you won’t be able to tell which way is forward on either. *smirk*
Tim Cooks Apple…
They will announce the product at wwdc 2018…
They will say it will be coming out in 2020…
They will then delay the product launch into 2021…
It will be buggy and feature deficit as all get out…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I present to you the New Apple…
2020 is right around the corner. 2021 would be just fine, but just make sure the head “strap” fits correctly. The rest of the technology can be delivered in 2022, or ’23.
Star Trek communicators did not address this, but you will get used to more and more RF signals coursing thruout your body just like the proverbial frog in boiling water.
All RF is not created equal. RF covers a fairly wide frequency range and is present in many forms, mostly low power/intensity. Unless you are standing near a microwave antenna (microwaves interact with water), you get far more damage from sunlight than from RF.
Put on your tinfoil hat and go back to sleep, Dingler. This is a physics and engineering issue, not an art issue.
Check your water temp.
Good retort! Don’t listen to that person above,…contains logical fallacies, one of them being an ad hominem attack.
we’re all going to die. Our water will reach room temperature.
For the time being, enjoy the waves.
Dunce Dingler, Fartist, fouls up the comment section air again with his bum toots.
The Fartist is giving us all a bum steer, and it doesn’t smell good.
Hey, if RF waves can give me a bigger dong, then wave on!
If Dingler’s “art” is internet comments, he’s Failing bad.
Leave John to debate maths on his own
I know John Dingler, artist. He’s really a good guy, one of the best. I’m going to gift one of his artworks to fhe fat man with the funny haircut on the Korean Peninsula in a couple of weeks. It’s going to be really, really big and he’ll love it and the whole world will love it. It’s going to be amazing. Thanks John Artist, dingler.
MDN is not a scatology site.
LOL. What fun comments but the topic is technology not personalities.
Because your consistently foul mood and negative attitude is wearing thin. I would prefer the entire MDN staff passed out for a few weeks and saved us the incessant complaints.
Feeling a bit like the attitude and mood is warranted. I laughed when I read this elsewhere today. They’ll have a VR/AR headset in two years, but I’ve been waiting for a decent not-all-in-one Mac for a decade it seems. Just feels like Apple’s attitude and polish have been waning down for a while. Depressing really.
I would love to have Apple’s 2020 vision 🤓 but I just don’t see it happening. Not for a few more years that is. 😎
I have an Oculus Rift and it has Apple-like experience when Im setting it up and using it. That device was released in 2016. I think 2020 is a bit late to join the bandwagon
Controled by a PC tower ???
I thought these AR were goning to be go anywhere do anything type of glasses.. basically a mobile device.
How would a tower fit in that picture?
Controled through a super iphone …i can see .
Meant AR Glasses ……… etc
I don’t quite understand this philosophy of mixing AR with VR.
VR is about experiencing artificial, made up world and one wants to be completely immersed and isolated from the real one.
AR instead overlays some visual information on top of what one can see around in the real world.
Those two things have completey different purpose.