While Mark Zuckerberg and Meta press ahead with augmented glasses initiatives buoyed by its million-selling set of sensible Ray-Bans, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman says that Apple simply pulled the plug on an AR glasses mission. Codenamed N107, they’re described as one thing that might’ve regarded much like common glasses however with added shows within the lenses that would connect with a Mac.
With options that sound much like units just like the Xreal One AR glasses, the glasses may’ve delivered on the Vision Pro function that’s closest to being any type of a killer app (popping up an enormous digital monitor wherever) with out the $3,499 worth and heavy design that required a head strap. The glasses additionally would’ve had tint-changing lenses that, just like the Vision Pro’s Eye Sight, may sign to onlookers whether or not the wearer was busy or not. While different particulars are fuzzy, it doesn’t seem as if the N107 glasses would’ve had a digital camera or any of the mixed-reality options of the Vision Pro.
An enormous drawback, in response to Gurman, was creating one thing that labored properly whereas being cost-effective proved to be a problem. Apple initially needed the N107 to hook up with an iPhone, nevertheless it proved to be a battery-guzzler, and the iPhone itself didn’t have sufficient juice to energy the glasses — therefore the shift to a Mac. Unfortunately, that change purportedly didn’t appear to go over properly with executives in testing.
This most up-to-date cancellation places a giant query mark over Apple’s future AR and XR plans. Apple purportedly canceled a separate AR glasses mission in 2023, and rumor has it that work on a Vision Pro 2 has been placed on maintain in favor of making an attempt to create a less expensive Vision Pro. Meanwhile, the Vision Pro itself has struggled to discover a foothold.
