On the market for an iPhone? Here's a breakdown of all the currently shipping iPhones from Apple.
Apple Experimenting With Several Augmented Reality Glasses Prototypes
Apple is working on "several different kinds" of wearable augmented reality prototypes as it tries to figure out the "most compelling application" for an AR headset, reports Financial Times.
Citing sources with knowledge of Apple's plans, Financial Times says at least one group within Apple is pushing for a pair of glasses that feature a 3D camera but no screens, making the iPhone the main display, similar to Snap's Spectacles, but no final design decisions have been made.
Snap's camera-equipped screen-free Spectacles
Rumors of Apple's work on AR smart glasses first surfaced in 2016, and previous rumors have suggested the glasses will connect wirelessly to the iPhone, much like the Apple Watch, and will display "images and other information to the wearer."
While Robert Scoble suggested Apple could launch the smart glasses this year through a partnership with Carl Zeiss, most rumors (like today's) suggest Apple is still in a prototyping phase and that a launch is still a ways off.
Earlier this year, Financial Times said Apple was "stepping up" development on an augmented reality wearable, but a potential launch is at least a year away or longer. Bloomberg has predicted a similar timeline, suggesting Apple is perhaps aiming to launch a product in 2018.
As Apple works on AR smart glasses, the company is preparing to make its first major move into augmented reality with the launch of iOS 11 and ARKit, a set of APIs designed to allow developers to build powerful augmented reality experiences into apps and games. When ARKit launches, the iPhone and the iPad will become the largest augmented reality platform in the world given the large number of devices already out in the wild.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Over the course of the past several months, Apple CEO Tim Cook has talked about Apple's work on augmented reality several times. Just this past week, he called it "big and profound" and said he "could not be more excited" about AR and what developers are creating with ARKit.
"This is one of those huge things that we'll look back and marvel at the start of it," he said.
Citing sources with knowledge of Apple's plans, Financial Times says at least one group within Apple is pushing for a pair of glasses that feature a 3D camera but no screens, making the iPhone the main display, similar to Snap's Spectacles, but no final design decisions have been made.
Rumors of Apple's work on AR smart glasses first surfaced in 2016, and previous rumors have suggested the glasses will connect wirelessly to the iPhone, much like the Apple Watch, and will display "images and other information to the wearer."
While Robert Scoble suggested Apple could launch the smart glasses this year through a partnership with Carl Zeiss, most rumors (like today's) suggest Apple is still in a prototyping phase and that a launch is still a ways off.
Earlier this year, Financial Times said Apple was "stepping up" development on an augmented reality wearable, but a potential launch is at least a year away or longer. Bloomberg has predicted a similar timeline, suggesting Apple is perhaps aiming to launch a product in 2018.
As Apple works on AR smart glasses, the company is preparing to make its first major move into augmented reality with the launch of iOS 11 and ARKit, a set of APIs designed to allow developers to build powerful augmented reality experiences into apps and games. When ARKit launches, the iPhone and the iPad will become the largest augmented reality platform in the world given the large number of devices already out in the wild.
Over the course of the past several months, Apple CEO Tim Cook has talked about Apple's work on augmented reality several times. Just this past week, he called it "big and profound" and said he "could not be more excited" about AR and what developers are creating with ARKit.
"This is one of those huge things that we'll look back and marvel at the start of it," he said.
Related Roundup: Apple Glasses
Tag: ft.com
[ 49 comments ]
Top Rated Comments
(View all)
32 months ago
AppleWatch + AirPods + Apple Glasses are the holy trinity that will inevitably replace the iPhone with wearable tech.
32 months ago
I truly think I’m with Apple on taking their time here.
Get ARKit going with developers and immersed in the ecosystem. Then tie it in with the glasswear item.
I have faith.
USVet
Get ARKit going with developers and immersed in the ecosystem. Then tie it in with the glasswear item.
I have faith.
USVet
32 months ago
AppleWatch + AirPods + Apple Glasses are the holy trinity that will inevitably replace the iPhone with wearable tech.
Hmmm I think you're onto something.
32 months ago
glasses that feature 3D camera but no screens, making the iPhone the main display
So whats the point then? Why are these different from normal glasses?
[doublepost=1501880015][/doublepost]You have a camera on the glasses just to see what you see on the iphone display? How is this not dumb?
So whats the point then? Why are these different from normal glasses?
[doublepost=1501880015][/doublepost]You have a camera on the glasses just to see what you see on the iphone display? How is this not dumb?
32 months ago
AppleWatch + AirPods + Apple Glasses are the holy trinity that will inevitably replace the iPhone with wearable tech.
This is most likely but I believe the phone will be more like a cpu by then. Doing the heavy data crunching and storage. Watch, Airpods and Glasses will be your I/O.
32 months ago
As others said, glasses, watch and AirPods. In that situation I could imagine using the Watch with a camera for the selfie crowd.
That's a vision of the distant future. The iPhone isn't going anywhere for a long time.
I don't think I would ever be able to use glasses or the Watch to browse the web and comment on forums. That's a big issue I see
You know that's the same excuse used to deride the possibility of a phone being as useful as a personal computer... "Oh, a phone can only do WAP, not the real web", they said. Once the iPhone made mobile popular, the web adapted itself to the mobile format. Apps leverage the internet but are built specifically for a pocketable, touch screen.
The next evolution of the internet is merging it into the real world through augumented reality. You'll see the web adjust itself to that format, including places like MacRumors or whatever succeeds it.
32 months ago
I guarantee Angela Ahrendts has been embedded with the design and engineering teams making sure these are a fashion item.
32 months ago
Maybe you are right, I just don't see how that way would be more useful than the current way of browsing.
I said I didn't "think" I could use ar glasses for those things, not that it was an impossibility. I still don't see how glasses or a watch would be a desirable experience over what we have now.
I see the Watch and any future wearable as secondary input methods and the iPhone still being the main work horse. Having said that, I cannot see into the future, lol.
I think you're spot on - AR is an auxiliary device for the foreseeable future, like the watch. Some people might use it as a primary, but for the vast majority it will be an add-on.
32 months ago
I don't know who is getting more stupid. The people or apple. I can u derstand Snapchat doing such because it gears towards teenagers. But Apple?? Which 30 yr old person would wear such glasses and walk around? Ridiculous!
[ Read All Comments ]
Instagram is dropping the IGTV button from the top-right corner of the app's home screen because not enough people are interacting with it.
First launched in June 2018, IGTV is...
Epic Games' latest update to the iOS version of popular battle royale title Fortnite that enables iPad Pro owners to run the game at 120 frames per second.
iPad Pro owners wanting to make...
Apple CEO Tim Cook has taken to Twitter this weekend to share a behind-the-scenes look at the making of new Apple TV+ show "Little America."
The entire first season of the immigrant...
It was a busy week of rumors as we hit the middle of January, with reports about updates to Face ID in the iPhone 12 lineup later this year, signs of a new Mac notebook coming soon, and word that...
Apple has inked a deal for a docuseries called "Dear..." that profiles famous people using an "inventive and cinematic approach" that involves letters written by people whose lives...
Amazon is no longer selling new versions of the Apple Watch Series 4 and Series 5 models through its online store in the United States, with the listings disappearing earlier today.
There is no...
Asphalt 9: Legends, a game that was ported to the Mac using Apple's Mac Catalyst tools, is now available for download from the Mac App Store.
The app was one of the titles that Apple...
Apple is expanding its presence in Germany with plans to open a new office building in Munich, Germany, according to German news site Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Located in the "Karl" office...
