Apple’s augmented reality glasses could be coming this year: Report

During a recent appearance on “This Week in Tech” podcast, he admitted sources at the “highest levels” have strongly tipped that a pair of smart glasses are in the works. He also claimed the powerful smart AR glasses could be revealed alongside the 10th anniversary iPhone 8 in September. He said that may coincide with the opening of Apple’s Spaceship headquarters in September 2017.

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CEO Tim Cook has previously dropped multiple hints at exploring the AR headset market. In July 2016, Cook said during an earnings calls, “We are high on AR for the long run… We think there’s great things for customers and a great commercial opportunity. So we’re investing.”

Also read: AR is more present than VR: Apple CEO Tim Cook

Cook over the past few months has been discussing about the potential of the AR technology. Speaking with ABC News in an interview, the Apple CEO said, “There’s virtual reality and there’s augmented reality — both of these are incredibly interesting. But my own view is that augmented reality is the larger of the two, probably by far.”

Also read: Apple, Carl Zeiss working on a pair of smart AR glasses: Report

In November, KGI securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple will unveil a fully baked AR product, but it’s unlikely to debut for another two years. During the same month, a report on Bloomberg said Apple had talked about its glasses project with “potential suppliers” ahead of the planned launch in 2018.

Apple has been exploring the AR headset market for quite sometime if you go by the reports we’ve seen. In 2013, Apple bought PrimeSense, which originally developed Microsoft’s Kinect gaming system. Later, in 2015, the iPhone 7 maker purchased Metaio, an augmented reality startup that was launched way back in 2013 as an offshoot project at Volkswagen.