In a note to clients — as noted by MacRumors — analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says Apple wants to keep the rumored “Apple Glasses” — an augmented reality/virtual reality/mixed reality head-mounted display (HMD) — under a third of a pound (about 150 grams) instead of the bulky (300-400 grams) HMDs currently on the market.
The analyst thinks the tech giant will be able to do this by using a hybrid Fresnel lens composed of three stacked Fresnel lenses to achieve a thin and light design with enhanced optical performance. Kuo says Apple will use lightweight plastic lenses with customized materials and coatings to match the light transmission of glass.
“The purpose of this design is to improve FOV and reduce weight and thickness. We believe that Apple will use a hybrid Fresnel lens design further to enhance the Fresnel lens’s optical performance (e.g., improve vignetting and optical artifacts), and each hybrid Fresnel lens comprises three stacked Fresnel lenses,” he adds. “We believe that Apple’s design will achieve a better balance between HMD’s FOV and form factor.”
When it comes to Apple Glasses, such a device will arrive this year or 2022, depending on which rumor you believe. The Sellers Research Group (that’s me) thinks Apple will at least preview it before the end of the year.
It will be a head-mounted display. Or may have a design like “normal” glasses. Or it may be eventually be available in both. The Apple Glasses may or may not have to be tethered to an iPhone to work. Other rumors say that Apple Glasses could have a custom-build Apple chip and a dedicated operating system dubbed “rOS” for “reality operating system.”
