Foxconn Reportedly Working on Apple's Cheaper Second-Generation Headset
Apple's long-rumored AR/VR headset has yet to be announced, but Nikkei Asia today reported that the company's manufacturing partner Foxconn is already developing a cheaper second-generation version of the headset.
Image Credit: Ian Zelbo
The report cites an unnamed "executive with knowledge of the development" who claims that Apple's first headset will be "extremely expensive," with industry estimates ranging from $3,000 to $5,000. The source believes Apple's second-generation headset will have a more affordable price within the territory of "a high-end Mac computer."
From the report:
Foxconn is also helping with the AR project, four people told Nikkei Asia. The longtime iPhone assembler will work on parallel development of a cheaper second-generation AR device, four sources said. Foxconn's focus will be on automating mass production and improving production performance to help Apple lower overall costs, according to two people familiar with the plans.
Apple's plans to release a cheaper version of its AR/VR headset were first reported last month by The Information's Wayne Ma and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The headset would supposedly use more affordable components, such as lower-resolution lenses.
Apple's first headset is expected to be announced at WWDC in June and will reportedly have over a dozen cameras, dual 4K lenses, advanced eye and hand tracking, a physical knob similar to the Apple Watch's Digital Crown, and many other advanced features. On the software side, the device is said to have an iOS-like interface with a grid of apps.
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Top Rated Comments
They are wanting it to have the feel of a high end product and still garner the software to support it. I'm guessing they will have only under 5 software developers they are currently working closely with.
3k is NOT expensive when you consider the quality of hardware & sensors that have been rumored. Just look at how much their computer hardware is.
Personally, I’d only be interested in this if A) I was rich and B) if it was so advanced that I could dive into a world that looks actually real (think avatar) to get away from German winter for a bit every day haha imagine visiting Hawaii from your living room. However, so far everything VR/AR I have seen looks like a „updated“ version of Nintendo Wii graphics
So what is this we are going to see? Doesn't sound very interesting if I can't own one. Boring. For those non-business users that will buy one, I envy your vast wealth. This I know. So in nutshell the real release date is maybe late next year or farther out (like much).
They should have just ...not done it this way. Like SJ showing the first iPhone that 'just costs too much for anyone' .Lines would have to wait....for years.
Sorry to be so negative, but I'm finding it so easy.