In a note to clients — as noted by AppleInsider — analyst Ming-Chi Kuo — predicts that Apple will release smart glasses in 2020, and that they’ll be “powered” by an iPhone.
He thinks the mass production of what most have dubbed “Apple Glasses” may start in the fourth quarter of 2019, though this window could extend into the second quarter of 2020. Kuo believes the head-mounted display will only act as a display, with a nearby iPhone performing all of the processing, including rendering scenes, providing a data connection, and location-based services like GPS.
The Sellers Research Group (that’s me) says Kuo is 100% spot on in his forecast. This scenario would mean a relatively light head-mounted display compared to the cumbersome ones now available. And it could also spur more demand for the iPhone.
What’s more, this fits into some previous reports. In 2017 Apple was granted a patent (number 8,957,835) for AR/VR goggles that would connect with an iPhone. It involves connecting an iPhone to a GoPro-ish head mount for viewing media on a private display.
Bloomberg reported in 2017 that Apple’s “breakthrough device” will have a new chip and operating system. The article claims that the tech giant is designing an in-house chip that’s similar in concept to the “system-on-a-package” component in the Apple Watch. Bloomberg adds that the new operating system, internally dubbed “rOS” for “reality operating system,” is based on iOS.
