Apple’s Imaginative and prescient Professional mixed-reality headset isn’t set to hit shops till January 2024 on the very earliest, but there’s proof that Apple is already at work on a sequel.
It stands to motive that Apple is already planning for the next-generation Imaginative and prescient Professional. It took practically a decade of analysis and growth to supply what we noticed unveiled at June’s Worldwide Builders Convention (WWDC), so even when the “Imaginative and prescient Professional 2” isn’t coming till 2026, Apple must get began instantly.
The primary strong details about Apple’s plans got here from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman final month, who indicated that Apple had already set its priorities for the Imaginative and prescient Professional successor, with a give attention to making it lighter and smaller. Apple’s engineers are additionally hoping to discover a higher option to cope with prescription lenses than “providing 1000’s of various lens mixtures,” which might transform a logistical nightmare in the long term as demand for the headset ramps up.
Now, the oldsters over at MacRumors have obtained some new data from their sources, offering extra perception into what we are able to count on from Apple as its augmented actuality plans mature.
In response to the report, the “Imaginative and prescient Professional 2” growth initiative is understood internally by the codename “Venture Alaska,” and the gadget has a codenamed identifier of N109. The headset that in the end grew to become the Imaginative and prescient Professional that’s about to hit the market subsequent yr was reportedly N301, whereas the Apple glasses (which have reportedly been shelved for now) had been codenamed N421.
Extra of the Identical?
Whereas the next-generation Imaginative and prescient Professional remains to be on the drafting board, MacRumors sources say that it “bears putting resemblance” to the present Imaginative and prescient Professional, with a curved aesthetic and the identical association of buttons.
Nonetheless, it seems that Apple could also be planning on doing one thing totally different with the audio system. The Imaginative and prescient Professional we noticed at WWDC has two distinguished bumps on both facet to accommodate these, whereas early designs of the next-gen mannequin don’t present these. As a substitute, the perimeters are “flat and uniform by means of their total size.” Venture-related paperwork point out an audio accent however don’t present any element on what that is perhaps.
One chance is that it might section out the built-in audio system totally in favor of integrating with AirPods. One of many few adjustments in Apple’s new USB-C-equipped AirPods Professional 2 is help for lossless ultra-low-latency audio to ship what Apple calls “the right true wi-fi resolution with Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional.” By the point the second-generation Imaginative and prescient Professional arrives, that know-how might find yourself being customary throughout the whole AirPods lineup.
The brand new design additionally appears to have less complicated rear straps, which could possibly be a method of slicing prices. It additionally could also be a mirrored image of a lighter design that requires much less substantial straps. Nonetheless, Apple is probably going in search of methods to shave no matter it will probably off its first-generation headset’s $3,500 price ticket.
Whereas there have additionally been rumors of a lower-cost model — a “Imaginative and prescient” to the ”Imaginative and prescient Professional,” if you’ll — that’s not what Venture Alaska is about proper now. It is a second-generation Imaginative and prescient Professional, and even when Apple manages to scale back the worth a bit, it’s nonetheless going to be eye-wateringly costly.
For instance, MacRumors sources say it’s going to nonetheless have the identical full array of sensors and cameras discovered within the present Imaginative and prescient Professional, together with two micro-OLED shows and as many as seven cameras. Apple will doubtless enhance upon these the identical method it does for the iPhone yearly, nevertheless it seems it’s going to primarily stick to the identical design.
The second-generation Imaginative and prescient Professional stays no less than two years away, with sources indicating that it’s slated to enter product validation testing (PVT) someday in 2025, which might doubtless push the precise availability into early 2026.
From every little thing we’ve heard, Apple hasn’t begun any growth on a lower-cost model of the headset. Nonetheless, final month, Gurman stated that Apple was “contemplating a number of choices, together with a lower-end mannequin and a extra highly effective model,” however to this point, it’s specializing in the direct successor to the Imaginative and prescient Professional.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]