The augmented reality glasses that Apple has been developing for some time will probably never appear on the shelves of its stores. Mark Gurman, who once again let his big ears hang around at Apple Park, claims that this project — codenamed N107 — will ultimately not see the light of day. It was reportedly canceled this week, after negative feedback from senior executives of the group.
Negative feedback for the N107 project
The product was supposed to look like a pair of connected glasses connected to another device responsible for calculations. Originally, they were supposed to connect to an iPhone but there were reportedly problems related to the necessary computing capacities and the autonomy of the smartphone. Apple has reportedly changed its approach, choosing the Mac as a companion to the glasses.
Switching to the Mac wasn't completely far-fetched: it solves the problem of power and battery life, and the Vision Pro's best feature is the display of the Mac screen in the headset. The downside is that carrying a Mac (even a laptop) is less practical than an iPhone. And the solution didn't appeal to management.
These glasses were supposed to integrate projectors displaying information, images and videos in the wearer's field of vision, like the Orion project presented by Meta last September. Apple's prototypes were light enough not to require a headband. They also didn't have the Vision Pro's EyeSight screen that displays the user's eyes, and for good reason, these are glasses with transparent lenses; on the other hand, these glasses could change color depending on the use of the device, according to the Bloomberg snoop!
This cancellation comes a year after that of the electric and autonomous car (the famous Titan project which cost 10 billion dollars).
It is rumored that morale within the Vision Products Group (VPG), which designed the Vision Pro, is not at its best. However, work is still being done on the successor(s) to the Vision Pro, and other projects are on the drawing board, like the AirPods with a camera. And then Apple still has some hope of creating AR glasses one day or another: work is continuing to design new microOLED screens that could find a place in this type of product.
In any case, for the moment at least, Apple is leaving the field open to the competition. Several companies have launched into this niche of connected glasses, such as Meta of course, but also Google and Samsung.
Source: Bloomberg
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