Skip to main content

Designer imagines how Apple’s VR/AR headset might look

We got some idea about how Apple’s VR/AR headset might look from a simple rendering based on a prototype seen by The Information. A designer has now used this as the basis of more realistic renders of the design.

The original cartoon-style drawing showed only a side view, but designer Antonio De Rosa has given us some ideas on how the rumored $3,000 headset might look from a variety of angles …

Background

Apple’s main goal is believed to be lightweight glasses with built-in displays to provide an augmented reality view of the world. Wearers would be looking at the real world directly through the glass, but see information overlayed in front of their eyes.

However, there has been increasing speculation about a mixed reality headset coming to market ahead of Apple Glasses, with two recent reports claiming to have details of an expensive device more in line with commercial headsets than consumer products.

Almost all the reports to date on the headset project commonly dubbed Apple Glasses have pointed to an augmented reality (AR) device, rather than a virtual reality (VR) one. But a new Bloomberg report suggests that Apple’s first headset will primarily be a VR device, with limited AR capabilities. It goes on to suggest that it will be the Mac Pro of VR devices […] Some Apple insiders believe the company may sell only one headset per day per retail store.

And:

A mixed-reality headset Apple is developing will be equipped with more than a dozen cameras for tracking hand movements and showing video of the real world to people wearing it, along with ultra-high-resolution 8K displays and advanced technology for tracking eye-tracking technology, according to a person with direct knowledge of the device […] Apple internally discussed pricing the product around $3,000.

Apple appears to be extremely serious about the project, as the company’s hardware chief Dan Riccio is said to be heading up the development work.

How Apple’s VR/AR headset might look

De Rosa has been creating Apple concepts since what was then dubbed the iWatch back in 2010. His latest renders of the rumored headset include marketing-style images, in which he proposes the name Apple View. You can see a couple more examples below, and the complete set over at De Rosa’s website.

In a recent reader poll, a surprising 15% of you would be interested at the rumored price.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

Author

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


Ben Lovejoy's favorite gear