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Apple’s expected augmented reality and virtual reality (RA and VR) headphones could be just around the corner. Of course, there is a problem. A new rumor suggests that users can connect to a mobile device, most likely an iPhone, to access the full range of device features.
According to a recent report from The Information, Apple has just designed the three chips that will have to operate Titan Tech’s AR / VR headphones. Unfortunately, the chips will not have the ability to power native AI and machine learning in the handset, instead of deferring most of the computing from the device to a wirelessly connected mobile device. This will work similarly to first-generation Apple watches that needed a connection to an iPhone to work.
Now that the design of its chips is finished, Apple’s mysterious AR / VR headphones will soon enter a test production phase over the next few months. With the need for a mobile device to work fully, headphones may have a sleeker, lighter design, due to Google’s failed Glass device of yesteryear.
If Apple is Apple, the company will likely find a way to assign an astronomical price to its next product, as lightweight materials are cursed. Currently, the rumored sale price is around $ 3,000 just for headphones. Add an iPhone and any other updates, bells or whistles that Apple makes available, and consumers could find themselves forking a small fortune to use a fully charged headset. At least the company still offers back-to-school deals.
It’s also worth mentioning that Apple’s RA and VR offerings may come to fruition as two different devices, with a more intense focus on AR in the indefinite future. CEO Tim Cook has frequently attributed RA to being a more promising company and noted in a 2016 interview with Buzzfeed that “RV has some interesting applications, but I don’t think it’s a broad-based technology like RA.” .
Cook also told Buzzfeed that he believed “there is no substitute for human contact … and therefore you want technology to encourage that.” These previous comments from Apple’s CEO coincide with more recent sentiments that an Apple RA effort could work to increase person-to-person interactions with the ability to conjure graphics, data, and other visual information at will.
Still, virtual reality is a significantly more established industry in the fledgling arena of RA, so we’re likely to see an offer of virtual reality from Apple before the company launches its big guns for RA. Only time will tell what an Apple AR / VR device will look like, but make sure you have your iPhone on hand, just in case.
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