Apple's AR headset will look like pair of ski goggles, sleeker and lighter than Meta's Quest

The much-awaited Apple's AR headset will go for mass production in 2023. Apple in collaboration with Pegatron, the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, which had earlier worked with Tesla, is planning to release its MR headset, 'Apple Reality Pro', in March 2023 as reported by MacRumors. Given the heavy price Apple products come with, it is being speculated that it will be a comparatively limited edition, only available to commercial customers. It is reported that partners have shown interest in Apple's VR headset because of the company's experience in virtual reality, but not reaping profits out of the commercial sale, though Apple claims it has put in a lot of work to make it an affordable product. DigiTimes Asia observes, "for supply chain manufacturers that benefit from quantity, this is not a particularly profitable order."

Going by reports, it is likely that the AR headset will have a design similar to a pair of ski goggles. Made from "mesh fabrics, aluminium, and glass" it will be compact and lighter than the Meta's VR glasses Quest Pro, which weighs 722 grams. The Apple VR headset can scan irises so that users can log in to their accounts the moment they put on the headsets, a feature that is absent for Meta's headsets. The feature is not exclusive to one user as the headset is passed on from one user to the other, it recognizes them as individual users logging them to their respective personal accounts making it the headset equivalent of faceID, touchID, or other biometric authentication methods. Futher, two of the 14 headset cameras can scan the wearer's leg position so that they are portrayed accurately in the virtual world. Whereas Meta's Quest Pro has only 10 cameras none of which are capable of scanning leg position. Just in case the user wears prescription lenses, they can be magnetically clipped into the headset. The headset is powered by OS, rOS an offshoot of iOS, and can offer a resolution of 4K for each eye. Its built-in processor is designed on the lines of the M2 processor Apple revealed recently for Macs and iPads.

Irrespective of the price Apple headset is going to be sold for, it is only going to be a prospective market. The Quest 2, a $399 USD VR headset released in June could sell 15 million units, but its recent product Quest Pro priced at $1,499 USD couldn't see that much traction in the market. Given the experience, it has in manufacturing hardware and the trust Apple has in its consumer base, it is very much likely that Apple's VR headsets will become a benchmark for future headsets. Talking about the transformational potential Apple's VR headsets will have, he says, "We are going to look back and think about how we once lived without augmented reality". Facebook, meanwhile can save its bucks for the next device, hopefully adding legs to the floating torsos of the avatars its current 3D applications generate.