Apple's long-rumored augmented-reality (AR) glasses, aka Apple Glass, had quite the week, after drifting along for years as simply a known project within Apple. Now the info just seems to be flowing with a massive leak of information regarding the project courtesy of Jon Prosser of Front Page Tech.
Following hot on the heels of that leak is another report from DigiTimes with additional details regarding the launch timeframe and the possible scarcity of Apple Glass at launch (via Tom's Guide).
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Apple Glass launch date debate
The new report very much aligns with Prosser's claims regarding the launch timeframe for Apple Glass as it indicates that the glasses will go into production sometime in the beginning of 2021, indicating a shipping date later in the year.
Prosser had claimed that Apple Glass would be announced at either the iPhone 12 launch event that is expected in September or October this year or at a March 2021 event, depending on whether in-person press events would be possible at that time. Regardless of the unveil date, his expectation was that the product wouldn't be shipping until several months later.
The one conflicting opinion comes from Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, another incredibly reliable source for Apple info. In a Twitter conversation with Prosser, Gurman asserted that Apple's AR glasses aren't going to arrive until the end of 2022 or 2023, with a hybrid AR/VR headset the product that will be announced in early 2021.
Understood. But there’s no confusion — I’m definitely not referring to the AR/VR headset. Haven’t worked on a story about the headset (N301) at all. Still excited to see it, though!May 21, 2020
It's a clash of some real Apple insider titans and for now we'll just have to wait to see whose sources have it right.
Apple Glass might be hard to find
The days of Apple products being scarce at launch have been over for some time now, but according to the same DigiTimes report, Apple Glass will be a "small-volume" production.
While clearly there is less demand for AR glasses than a new iPhone, it's hard to imagine that at the rumored $499 price point that these won't sell out quickly. Whether this reflects Apple simply being cautious with the rollout of its first AR product or perhaps an inability to produce some component at volume is unknown at this time.
It seems like Prosser may have broken the seal on Apple Glass rumors and we expect to hear plenty more in the weeks to come.
