I think we’ll see a ‘RealityPro’ at WWDC, ‘Apple Glasses’ in 2025

Apple’s rumored AR/VR headset has strayed from Tim Cook’s original vision, but it will still define the field, according to a Bloomberg report from Mark Gurman. (A subscription is required to read the article).

The “RealityPro” is expected to be previewed at June’s Worldwide Developer Conference. However, it’s not expected to go on sale until later in the year.

The device that Cook will present has deviated far from his initial vision, Gurman reports, quoting unnamed folks familiar with the matter. Initially imagined as a pair of unobtrusive eyeglasses that could be worn all day, Apple’s device has morphed into a headset that resembles a pair of ski goggles and requires a separate battery pack.

“After initially setting its sights on a lightweight pair of augmented-reality glasses, Apple gradually drifted toward something that felt more like existing devices because of technological constraints, the desire to get a product on the market and internal disagreements,” Gurman writes. 

Compromises or not, I do think we’ll see the RealityPro this year. And I do think well see Apple’s original vision — which I’ll called “Apple Glasses” — in 2025 or 2026. 

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that second generation Apple AR/MR headset will go into mass production in 2025. There will be two versions, a high-end and a low-end.

I’m hopeful that when Apple does release its eyeglass-sized AR/VR device, users won’t need prescription lens. Apple has been granted a p patent for smartglasses that will automatically adjust for people with poor eyesight using an “optical subassembley.”

A more recent patent also suggests that Apple may employ a projection-based system that beams images directly into the user’s eye. This way Apple would skip the need for any sort of transparent display.