Apple is preparing to produce fewer than 400,000 Vision Pro units in 2024, the sources said, after the company hoped to ship 1 million units by the time it launches in 2024.

Design complexity and production difficulties were the reason for the lowered target, and plans for a cheaper version had to be delayed, according to multiple people with direct knowledge of the device’s manufacturing process.

Released last month after seven years in development, the Vision Pro has been hailed as the most significant product launch since the iPhone. Apple has said the $3,500 headset won’t be available until early next year, a long way from its June 5 launch date.

Analysts believe this has more to do with supply chain issues than giving developers time to create apps for the Vision Pro.

Industry insiders, including Isaiah Research analyst Eddie Han, believe the low production expectations reflect Apple’s lack of confidence in large-scale production.

The post Apple slashes production forecast for first MR headset appeared first on TechGoing.

Ross Young said in a tweet that Apple’s first headset will be equipped with two 1.4-inch screens made of Micro OLED (OLED on Silicon), with a brightness of more than 5,000 nits and a pixel density of 4,000 pixels per inch. The resolution of the block screen has also reached 4K.

With a brightness higher than 5,000 nits, Apple’s headset can support HDR content that is not available in the mainstream headset market.

According to Ross Yang’s tweet, the brightness of mainstream headsets is attached here as follows: Meta Quest 2 has a maximum brightness of about 100 nits and does not provide HDR; HoloLens 2 provides 500 nits of brightness; Sony’s brightness of the PSVR 2 headset is about 265 nits, and the official announcement supports HDR.

Ross Yang said that 5000 nits are the peak brightness of the screen and that during daily use, the headset may reduce the brightness to provide higher contrast, brighter colors and better rendering than mainstream headsets.

The post Apple’s first MR Headset specifications revealed: with peak brightness of more than 5000 nits appeared first on TechGoing.

TrendForce said that there are many factors limiting the sales volume of this headset this year, including the high price, difficult production and limited developers in the initial stage.

The report is as follows:

 While Apple's headset may spur some new demand in the AR/VR category, the device's high price tag, believed to be more than $3,000, presents a major hurdle in enticing consumers to buy.

In January 2022, Apple disclosed to suppliers that it estimated that the sales volume of the first headset in the first year would be 7-10 million units; Apple then lowered it to 3 million units.

Kuo said in August last year that the headset will ship no more than 1.5 million units in 2023; Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said the headset will ship no more than 900,000 units this year; In December last year, it was revised down again to “less than 500,000 units”.

Mark Gurman also hypothesizes that Apple might only sell one headset per retail store per day, which equates to annual sales of just over 180,000 units. TrendForce estimates just under 100,000 units, the lowest estimate for Apple’s headset shipments to date.

The post TrendForce Says Apple’s First Headset Will Ship Less Than 100,000 Units This Year appeared first on TechGoing.

▲ Image source: Apple official website

Bloomberg quoted multiple people familiar with the matter as revealing that Tim Cook’s initial vision was a lightweight wearable device with a built-in battery similar to ordinary glasses, rather than a head-mounted device that looks like ski goggles and is connected to an external battery by cables. Tim Cook hopes that it can replace some of the functions of the iPhone, and can perform light tasks such as browsing the web, replying to messages, and playing games.

▲ Glasses-style AR equipment, image source: Xiaomi’s official website

Apple’s engineering department failed to achieve this goal, and the final product became a headset. In order to reduce the pressure on the head caused by the weight and avoid high-temperature problems, Apple had to adopt an external method to connect a battery pack equivalent to the size of an iPhone through a power cord, and the user can put it in a pocket or handbag for outdoor use.

Bloomberg pointed out that Tim Cook did not get too involved in product development, but he attached great importance to it. Because this product may be the last new product line launched during Tim Cook’s tenure. Analysts don’t think it will take until at least 2027 for Tim Cook’s glasses to come to fruition. According to Mark Gurman, Tim Cook’s term will end in 2025.

Bloomberg said that because Apple executives are not satisfied with this MR device, sales expectations are also quite conservative. Estimated sales fell to 900,000 units a year from the original plan of 3 million units per year. In addition, the cost is another major pain point. It is reported earlier today that analysts estimated that the cost of Apple’s MR equipment will be as high as $1,600, and Sony’s exclusive supply of Micro OLED screens and 14 CMOS image sensors accounted for nearly one-third of the total cost. one. This also makes the marginal profit of the device much smaller than most of Apple’s products. Apple’s marketing team has to work hard to balance the relationship between pricing and cost, so as to avoid scaring away consumers with too high prices.

The post Tim Cook unhappy with Apple’s first MR device, expects it to be thinner and lighter appeared first on TechGoing.

According to supply chain sources, in addition to Luxshare Precision and Yangming Optics, GIS, a subsidiary of Foxconn, has also been selected into the supply chain of Apple’s head-mounted display, responsible for providing lens fitting business.

It is reported that Foxconn has mobilized the production capacity of GIS to fully “sprint” to meet the demand for headsets. In this regard, supply chain industry insiders believe that Apple will announce this headset at the WWDC 2023 Developer Conference held in June, and it will be distributed and sold later.

In the production process of Apple’s MR headset, the lens fitting business is the most difficult. Apple delivered the business to the GIS factory in Chengdu, China. After the lamination was completed, it was sent directly to Luxshare for final assembly.

Apple’s first-generation MR headset was assembled by Luxshare. The original market thought that Hon Hai Group might not have members included in this new product supply chain. Get Apple’s favor.

The post Apple will release the first MR headset in June appeared first on TechGoing.

A mixed reality headset is a technology that combines augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to allow users to interact with the real world in a virtual environment. Apple has been secretly developing this device, which is scheduled to be announced in June of this year.

According to eight current and former Apple employees, initial enthusiasm for the device has turned to skepticism, which is unprecedented when it comes to new products from Apple. Compared to previous products, the headset seems to lack clear goals and needs, unlike the iPod and iPhone, which address users’ pain points, and the $3,000 (currently about 20,610 CNY) price tag is too high.

Even some Apple executives have expressed doubts about the device’s future, with some employees reportedly leaving the project because they were unimpressed with the device’s potential and some being fired for slow progress on certain features of the device, including Siri.

Apple showed a video of the headset to its top 100 executives at a corporate meeting five years ago, produced by design director Jonathan Ive, according to the report. The video showed a man wearing an augmented reality headset calling his wife in San Francisco from a London cab, sharing the view of London through his eyes.

The New York Times also reiterated previous reports that the headset would feature a carbon fiber frame, a waist-worn battery, an external camera, two 4K displays, prescription lenses for glasses wearers and a “reality tuner” that would increase or decrease the live video feed of the surroundings.

Apple has positioned the device’s primary application as “co-existence (copresence),” which allows users to communicate via video conferencing and avatars. The device will also offer custom HDTV content from Hollywood filmmakers such as Jon Favreau. While there are similarities to Meta’s headset and “metaverse,” Apple is expected to position the device as something different from its existing products.

The device will also provide artists, designers and engineers with tools that allow them to draw and edit images in three dimensions. There are also applications that allow users to edit virtual reality videos with gestures. As a result, the device is expected to appeal more to businesses and design firms than to the average consumer. Some employees have even speculated that Apple may again delay the release of the headset, even though production of the device has already begun.

The post Can a $3,000 Apple MR headset open up new markets? Employees have something to say appeared first on TechGoing.

The sources said Apple is developing a set of software development tools that will allow users to create their own apps through voice assistant Siri and other built-in tools, and the apps will be able to be shared with others in the App Store.

Some time ago, Tianfeng International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple’s MR headset development progress is less than standard due to the drop test of institutional parts, and the software development tool schedule is later than expected, and a large number of shipments may be delayed from the original second quarter of 2023 to the end of the second or third quarter of 2023.

Based on the current development schedule, Apple will most likely hold a launch event for AR/MR in the spring, and it should be released at WWDC at the latest.

Ming-Chi Kuo previously said that potential features for Apple’s first AR / VR device include two 4K micro OLED displays, 15 optical modules, two main processors, Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, eye tracking, object tracking and gesture control.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman previously revealed that Apple is working on at least three (AR) augmented reality and (VR) virtual reality devices, codenamed “N301,” “N602” and “N421. N421”.

The post Apple’s first MR headset coming soon is building App development tools for users appeared first on TechGoing.

Now, a report from the Taiwanese electronics industry publication DigiTimes suggests that the device will go into production in the first quarter of 2023. The device could be unveiled as early as April of the same year.

The first batch is expected to be limited, with a rough estimate of about 700,000 units for the year. Hershey United Technologies will reportedly be the exclusive partner for final assembly.

Its production date is in line with analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s previous predicted timeline when he said he believed Apple could launch the device between January and the second quarter of 2023.

Kuo also believes the headset will be able to seamlessly switch between augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences, but the price is expected to be very expensive.

The post Apple to mass produce MR headset in early 2023 appeared first on TechGoing.

Apple’s device is expected to scan the wearer’s iris so they can quickly log into their accounts simply by wearing the device on their head, two people involved in the development of Apple’s headset said.

People familiar with the matter said the feature will help Apple’s multi-user system, even if several people use the same device, and allow them to make quick payments through the MR headset’s iris recognition security system, like an iPhone fingerprint or Face payment is just as convenient.

According to public information, iris detection is an automated method of biometric identification. It uses an iris detector to shoot and uses cloud computing recognition technology to identify images of one or two irises of an individual’s eyes. The complex pattern of the iris is unique and stable. , and can reflect the current state of the body.

The iris is the annular part of the human eye structure located between the sclera and the pupil. It can automatically adjust the size of the pupil according to the intensity of the light. There are many pigment cells in the iris, and the amount of pigment contained in the pigment cells also determines the color of the iris. In addition to color, the iris has intricately detailed features such as spots, filaments, crowns, and stripes that will accompany a person throughout life.

The specific process of iris recognition is as follows: first, collect information, record the iris information with an iris acquisition device, divide the information in the iris into a plurality of quantitative feature points, and then store the iris information into a database by coding. Then there is identification. Generally, a camera that can emit an infrared light source is aimed at the eyes, and the iris area is automatically focused by the built-in algorithm, and the iris information of the person is scanned, and then the iris information is converted into codes and compared with the information in the database to finally identify the identity.

Iris recognition has many advantages over commonly used fingerprint recognition. The accuracy of iris recognition is high, with a false recognition rate of only one in a million, which is far lower than that of fingerprint recognition; iris input is fast, and general fingerprint recognition requires multiple pressings, and the input process is very cumbersome. It only takes a second to a few seconds; the iris can be recognized at a distance, and the recognition can be completed without direct contact, which is convenient and fast; the iris also has subtle dynamic characteristics, which can make it almost impossible to fake an iris.

It is worth mentioning that Tianfeng International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also previously stated that the Apple AR/VR headset will be equipped with an eye-tracking system, and the eye-tracking system of the headset can support iris recognition. He believes that if the Apple headset can realize iris recognition, it is expected to bring a new Apple Pay payment method.

The report expects Apple’s headsets to feature eye-tracking systems. The system includes a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitting end provides one or several invisible lights with different wavelengths, and the receiving end detects the change of the invisible light reflected by the eyeball, and judges the movement of the eyeball based on the change.

The post Apple’s MR headset is likely to support iris scan payment and login appeared first on TechGoing.