Apple Glasses launching in 2022 ‘at the earliest’
Apple’s rumored AR smart glasses won’t arrive until 2022 “at the earliest”, according to leading industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo who expects a new 10.8-inch iPad to launch in the second half of 2020, followed by a new iPad mini during the first half of 2021.
Kuo suggests Apple’s updated iPad mini will feature a display size of between 8.5-inches and 9-inches, using modern internals while being sold at a low price point, similar to the recently released $399 iPhone SE that uses Apple’s latest A13 Bionic chip found on the premium iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro which begin at $699 and $999 respectably.
Despite earlier reports of the Apple Glasses development being “terminated” after the eyewear was supposedly intended to launch in 2020, Kuo has told investors that he believes the glasses will “create innovative MR/AR” user experiences, although the production of the devices will be difficult and expensive for Apple.
The Apple Post shared concept images created by Italian Industrial and Graphic Designer Xhakomo Doda last year that envisioned Apple’s new AR smart glasses, which imagined interchangeable frames and a sleek stainless steel casing with a sapphire crystal glass front and back housing the eyewear’s battery and internals.
Apple has long been rumored to be working on AR glasses much like Google Glass which launched in 2013. Reports have previously claimed the glasses have been in development for years, with leaked medical reports showing in 2017 that an Apple employee reported eye pain after working with a new prototype, thought to be Apple Glasses.
Image: Xhakomo Doda