DigiTimes: Apple Has Temporarily Stopped Developing AR/VR Headsets, Team Disbanded in May [Updated]

Update: As famous by Jeremy Horwitz, extra particulars are actually obtainable on DigiTimes Taiwan, which experiences that Apple has “temporarily stopped developing AR/VR headsets.” The report claims the crew engaged on them was disbanded in May and reassigned to different product developments. Original story beneath.

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Apple has reportedly “terminated” improvement of its extensively rumored augmented actuality glasses undertaking, in keeping with DigiTimes.

MacRumors idea of Apple Glasses

Multiple sources have claimed that Apple plans to launch augmented actuality glasses as early as 2020, together with well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, and CNET, so the DigiTimes report if correct displays a cancellation of a significant {hardware} undertaking on Apple’s roadmap.

DigiTimes preliminary headline

DigiTimes has a combined monitor document in relation to reporting on Apple’s future plans, however it seems to be citing one other report in this case. However, the DigiTimes story is presently paywalled behind its “Before Going to Press” part, so we’ll have to attend for particular particulars to be made public.

Kuo stated Apple’s glasses could be marketed as an iPhone accent and primarily take a show function whereas wirelessly offloading computing, networking, and positioning to the iPhone. He believed mass manufacturing may start sooner or later between the fourth quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2020.

In November 2017, Gurman reported that Apple’s headset would run a customized iOS-based working system dubbed “rOS” for “reality operating system.” At the time, he stated Apple had not finalized how customers would management the headset, however prospects included touchscreens, Siri voice activation, and head gestures.

In April 2018, CNET stated Apple was growing an augmented actuality headset that options an 8K show for every eye and could be untethered from both a pc or a smartphone. The report claimed the headset would as an alternative hook up with a “dedicated box” utilizing high-speed short-range 60GHz WiGig know-how.

Gurman and different sources beforehand reported that Apple was engaged on a number of completely different wearable augmented actuality prototypes below the umbrella code title of “T288,” so it’s nonetheless potential {that a} product of some sort could possibly be launched.

Apple has been exploring digital actuality and augmented actuality applied sciences for greater than 10 years based mostly on patent filings. The firm can also be rumored to have a secretive analysis unit comprising a whole bunch of staff engaged on AR and VR, exploring methods the applied sciences could possibly be used in future Apple merchandise.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has talked up the prospect of augmented actuality a number of occasions, saying he views AR as “profound” as a result of the know-how “amplifies human performance instead of isolating humans.”