Apple launching $900+ VR headset next year, ‘Apple Glass’ following the year after

Bloomberg has published a new report today suggesting that Apple’s first VR headset is expected to launch in 2022, priced higher than its rivals ahead of the launch of a more mainstream AR product, likely the long-rumored “Apple Glass” project the year after.

The report says “several development hurdles” have been hit during the making of the product, with Apple setting “conservative” sales expectations. Bloomberg says “Apple’s first headset will be far more expensive than those from rivals, which cost about $300 to $900. Some Apple insiders believe the company may sell only one headset per day per retail store.”

The headset is said to be codenamed N301, and is said to be in the late prototype stage. The report refers to the VR headset as a “pricey, niche precursor” to Apple’s AR “Apple Glass,” codenamed N431, which is still in the “architecture” stage, which means Apple is pre-prototype.

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.

Apple Glasses | Xhakomo Doda

Very little is known about the design of Apple’s upcoming AR/VR product however, Italian Industrial and Graphic Designer Xhakomo Doda has shared how he envisions Apple’s AR smart glasses could look, imagining interchangeable frames and a sleek stainless steel casing with a sapphire crystal glass front and back for housing the eyewear’s battery and internals.

Image: Xhakomo Doda