Are Apple Glasses Actually Going to Happen?

Key Highlights

• Apple’s AR glasses still a swath of rumors but may become possible reality in 2021
• Leaks about price speculate about price point of $499, not including prescription charges

Word on the street is that Apple AR glasses may soon become a reality. We still have to rely on leaks and rumors about Apple glasses since the company itself hasn’t made any official announcements about such a product yet but apparently, some of the leakers are thought to be reliable.

Here’s what we’ve heard and read via www.techradar.com:

1. Apple AR glasses could be called Apple Glass
2. Apple AR glasses could cost $499 not including any kind of prescription charges.
3. Apple Glass would display information on both lenses with users controlling that information with gestures both on and in front of the frames.
4. Apple Glass processing would be via a connected iPhone and would have a LIDAR scanner to power AR experiences but would not have a conventional camera.
5. There may not be a sunglasses version as the display doesn’t work through tinted lenses.
6. No, people looking at you wearing Apple Glass would not be able to see the lenses displaying anything.
7. Supposedly, the frame is made from plastic.
8. There may be a special “Steve Jobs Edition” of Apple Glass that would have more bells and whistles or a different style that would, of course, cost more. 

What makes any of these leaks/rumors at all credible is that Apple has recently been collecting/acquiring companies with interests in AR and that Apple’s CEO has been saying that company has some new products coming that could “blow you away.” Along with product acquisitions such as NextVR, a company that has produced virtual reality content for the NBA and Fox Sports, Apple has also poached talent from NASA’s Mission Operations Innovation Office of Jet Propulsion Lab and team members of Dolby Labs AR cluster.

Additionally, Apple has been granted some 53 new patents related to optical systems for a series of lenses that cast images on a user’s eye, adjust opacity to focus a user’s eye to a video, adjust brightness and to enhance the intelligence of the iPhone Home screen to better enable Apple Glass to connect with AR applications via the lenses.

Of course, Apple is not and will not be the stand-alone producer of AR glasses or products. Vuzix, Epson and Vue are already making AR glasses just as Microsoft is blending AR and VR headsets such as its Magic Leap One. Samsung, Huawei and Facebook are working right now on their own AR eyewear.

Could it be that in a year or two AR tech enabled eyewear may kiss the smartphone good bye? All we know for sure is that whatever AR tech enabled eyewear becomes available down the road a bit, Apple will be among its most competitive producers.

Thanks to techradar.

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