Apple’s gearing up for AR/VR market entry. One of the two projects, an AR/VR headset, is slated for release sometime in late 2022 or early 2023.
The headset will adopt a mix of virtual reality and augmented reality functionality. VR and AR are similar technologies, but there’s a significant difference between them, and their potential applications vary. VR refers to a fully immersive experience in a virtual world, while AR refers to a modified view of the real world. Apple’s looking to combine the worlds of AR and VR with their first-ever head mounted display device (HMD).
The headset is rumored to support Wi-Fi 6E, ambitious software, and Apple-quality-like design and aesthetics, along with other potential features. The second project in question is a fashionable pair of augmented reality glasses, believed to release sometime after the AR/VR headset debuts.
Wi-Fi 6E offers the features and capabilities of Wi-Fi 6, including higher performance, lower latency, and faster data rates, extended into the 6 GHz band. The additional spectrum provides more airspace beyond existing 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi, resulting in increased bandwidth and less interference for devices that support Wi-Fi 6E.
In terms of the type of software that the headset will be designed to run, Apple is believed to be focusing on gaming, streaming video content, and video conferencing, with a special emphasis on gaming.
Mass production of Apple’s headset could be delayed until the end of the fourth quarter of 2022, reports suggest it could still launch in the same quarter. This AR/VR headset that’s in development is separate from the set of augmented reality smart glasses that are in the works. The sleeker, smaller smart glasses will follow the headset and are expected to launch in 2023.
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