Apple Glasses not coming anytime soon

We are only a couple of weeks away from WWDC 2023, the event that could mark a new beginning for Apple. The Cupertino company hopes to enter its post-iPhone era with the launch of the Apple AR/VR headset.

For the time being, the device is expected to pave the way for a number of other products, including the much-anticipated Apple Glasses. Nevertheless, it seems we might have to wait a lot longer for the latter.

According to an article by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple “is at least four years away from introducing any such product, if it ever happens”. Furthermore, the company “postponed any serious product development” of the Apple Glasses and almost killed the project entirely at one point.

The main difference between the Apple Glasses and the Reality Pro (i.e. Apple’s upcoming AR/VR headset) is that the former can only facilitate augmented reality and do not offer full user immersion. This might sound like a limitation on paper, but the ‘drawback’ is actually a blessing in disguise.

Many tech analysts believe augmented reality is more applicable in the everyday lives of ordinary users than virtual reality. It can be used for things such as navigation, messaging and real-time translation, under a wider set of circumstances.

Most importantly, a pair of AR glasses would be nowhere near as bulky as a dedicated VR headset making them much more portable and versatile. It should be noted that these were the two qualities that made the iPhone a revolutionary piece of technology when it originally launched more than a decade ago. They are also the things the Reality Pro will lack.

Apple seems to be determined to give AR and VR technology a chance. The company is already planning a second-generation headset and is laying the groundwork for an entire AR/VR software ecosystem. Whether it has what it takes to succeed where many others have failed is another matter entirely.