As 2021 draws to a close, rumors are focusing on what Apple might unveil next year. One particularly hotly tipped product is Apple's AR headset.
After more than half a decade since Apple introduced a completely new product category with the Apple Watch, everything points to its next major launch being an AR headset. The announcement could come as early as 2022. But what about the market launch? In the latest edition of its "Power On" newsletter writes Mark Gurman says that Apple is indeed planning a headset for 2022. But that doesn't mean customers will get their hands on the device anytime soon. According to the report, the same thing could happen with this product as with the original iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. That is, Apple could announce it but not put it on sale until months later.
Apple AR headset in focus
I expect the time between the first Apple headset's introduction and its launch to be significant, perhaps rivaling that of the original Apple Watch. Apple's first headset will have a complex, expensive design with interchangeable lenses. The company will likely need to work with governments around the world on possible prescription lenses, and collaborate with a variety of manufacturers on complex technology that neither side has shipped before. This will take time, and Apple will naturally want to get such a groundbreaking new category out to the public before it gets into the hands of more Apple employees and partners who will need to work on it before release.
In his report, Gurman recalls that the original Apple Watch took 227 days to launch.
When the Apple Watch launched, Cook was under pressure from investors and customers to develop a new product category - three years after taking over as CEO - and it would have been difficult to hold it off for another 200 days. Plus, it paired well with the larger iPhone 6 line and Apple Pay.
Interest in Apple's new headset has increased in recent days, as analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also discussed Apple's plans for an AR headset, stating that the unveiling is expected in the fourth quarter of 2022. According to Kuo, Apple's AR headset will feature a processor "with the same processing power as the Mac."
Mac-level computing power
The chip design is said to be the most important difference between the Apple AR headset and its competitors. In the letter to investors explained Kuo:
It has Mac-level processing power, it can work independently without relying on a Mac or iPhone, and it supports a full range of applications, not just specific ones.
Although it seems confusing, rumors point to two different products: Apple's AR headset and the company's mixed reality headset, which Gurman says will be "expensive." Apple will capitalize on this long timeline to generate hype around this next big product category:
More important is the months of public relations work needed to generate interest in a new (and expensive) product and to find enough support among software developers to make it worthwhile. I could imagine Apple announcing the headset at its Worldwide Developers Conference in 2022 and focusing the event on AR and VR app development. Then the product could go on sale late next year or in 2023.
As things stand, it looks as though we will soon be getting a brand new Apple product. Whether the rumors turn out to be true remains to be seen. (Photo by Andrey Suslov / Bigstockphoto)
