Apple’s lightweight augmented reality (AR) glasses might not be ready for market until 2026, according to one high-profile analyst, Jeff Pu of Haitong International Tech Research.
Speaking to MarketWatch, Pu said that the everyday wear AR glasses are delayed for “design issues,” and won’t be ready until 2025 or 2026.
That’s a long slip from the 2024 release window that Pu had forecasted just a few months ago. His analysis doesn’t detail the issues that caused the forecast to slip.
It could be anything, from battery life to display quality or redesigning ports after the EU’s mandate for USB-C.
Apple is still committed to augmented reality
It’s important to note that this isn’t the mixed reality headset that Apple will likely release in early 2023.
That headset will be standalone, powered by multiple Apple silicon processors, and be able to show virtual and augmented reality content.
The reportedly delayed AR glasses is the “everyday wear” device. This would be similar to Google Glass, showing contextual information in your field of vision when you need it.
The predicted release date for Apple’s AR glasses has fluctuated. In 2021, the usually-accurate Ming-Chi Kuo said the glasses were coming in 2025. At that time, the analyst thought that there was no physical prototype.
Then the timeline moved forward to 2024, and it’s now back out to 2026. It’s still unclear if Apple has a physical unit in the testing phases.
It’s possible that the company has individual components in the testing labs and has yet to combine them into a physical product.
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