The Information reporter Wayne Ma today published a lengthy report detailing the technical and management challenges Apple faces in developing its long-rumored AR/VR headset, the headset is currently expected to be released in late 2023.
The Information spoke with 10 people close to Apple’s mixed reality headset project, most of whom have worked on the team. Going all the way back to 2016, a year after development began, Apple’s board received very early demonstrations of a headset prototype in an attempt to “build support for larger investments at Apple’s highest echelons,” the source said. Apple’s board was persuaded to provide more development funding.
While Apple’s current CEO, Tim Cook, supports the headset project, he’s not as actively involved in the development of the iPhone as Jobs was, according to five people familiar with the project.
Apple’s headset team, led by former Dolby executive Mike Rockwell, often had to enlist project help from other parts of the company, the report said. As of mid-2017, the team also worked in office buildings in Sunnyvale, California, several miles from Apple’s headquarters, which it said: “helps keep the group hidden from the rest of Apple.”
The report also said that technical challenges have been the biggest factor behind the headset’s delays. In early 2018, a Rockwell team member asked Apple’s camera hardware engineering group to add a firmware feature that would increase the speed at which the headset’s camera captures images and re-projects them on the display. The Rockwell team hopes to include the feature in a prototype headset ahead of a major demo for Apple’s first 100 employees, called the T100. But members of the Rockwell team were told that the headset was not a priority until the iPhone XS shipped later that year.
The report also said that the team considered providing the headset with a replaceable battery that users could wear for up to eight hours a day, but the idea was ultimately abandoned due to the complications involved. As of 2021, the headset’s battery can provide a few hours of battery life, in line with similar products, the report says.
The report said Apple’s headsets took a critical turn in 2019, with Jony Ive “disgusted” with the idea of selling headsets that required positioning of base station equipment to operate before the team turned to the development of A less functional, but more self-contained AR/VR device.
The full report outlines many other challenges but requires a subscription to view. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Takashi Mochizuki, and Debby Wu previously outlined Apple’s problems with headsets, from overheating to camera and software challenges. Gurman said the headset will have two chips, at least one of which is comparable in performance to the M1 Pro chip found in the latest 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
The Information shared a rendering of an Apple headset last year based on what it saw in a “post-prototype.” The report says the headset will have a curved face shield with soft mesh material, replaceable headbands, and dual 8K displays. Apple’s headset may even have a third display, according to display industry consultant Ross Young.