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Report: Apple AR headset progresses as Sony said to supply micro-display

A new report from the Japanese newspaper Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun today claims that Apple is working with Sony on display technology that would be used in its reported AR headset. The headset could be announced as 2021, the report claims.

The report (via Macotakara) explains that supplying the micro-display for Apple’s head-mounted display will become a “pillar of Sony’s earnings” over the coming years. The display is said to feature high image quality in a small and lightweight design:

It seems that Sony has received an order for a micro display using an organic EL panel. It features high image quality and small size and light weight, and has many achievements for digital camera viewfinders. Augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) compatible HMDs for new applications use optical technology to project images displayed on the display onto the lens in front of you.

Furthermore, today’s report says that Apple’s headset could be released as early as 2021. Most recently, Bloomberg reported that Apple would release an AR headset designed for gaming sometime in 2022, with the product potentially being announced as early as 2021.

Reports have painted a messy picture of what to expect from Apple’s rumored headset(s). As of right now, the expectation is that Apple is developing dual products: an AR headset for gaming and a sleeker pair of AR glasses. The gaming headset, slated for 2022, would purportedly combine the best of AR and VR to offer impressive gaming and content VR experiences.

The slim and light glasses would focus on using AR to place data like maps navigations over what the user is seeing in the real world, and would be released in 2023 at the earliest.

What do you think of Appel’s plans for AR and VR headsets? Which product is most intriguing to you? Let us know down in the comments!

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Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is an editor for the entire 9to5 network and covers the latest Apple news for 9to5Mac.

Tips, questions, typos to chance@9to5mac.com