The first Apple viewer could be expensive and aimed exclusively at enthusiasts, followed by an ambitious plus, according to Bloomberg product. The smart viewer in question could be more VR-oriented, so it remains to be seen whether there is a correspondence with the previous rumors about the so-called Apple Glass. The alleged viewer, which should have the code name N301 and which would be in an advanced stage of prototyping, will focus more on VR, with limited AR capabilities. Apple prevails to launch it no earlier than 2022, according to sources close to Bloomberg. Consider it well and I'm a competitor with exclusive virtual reality products that come from Oculus, HTC and PlayStation VR, we are not sure of the augmented reality functions that the first Apple headset will actually offer. However, the sources indicate that Apple's first-in-class product will be far more expensive than other VR devices, re not sure if they know the exact price yet. However, Bloomberg suggests the company will use the commercial exclusivity to its advantage. Regardless of the final cost, but if Apple were able to sell just one headset a day in its stores (and there are more than 500 in the world), it would ultimately sell less than 200 units a year. Of course, this is limited news and subject to speculation, but considering the sales expectations, according to Bloomberg, the Apple headset could cost around 6 euros, therefore in the iMac Pro range. This suggests that the product will definitely appeal other to a very limited niche of users. Therefore, as it happened in the initial stages of Google Glass, only the most ardent enthusiasts could be Attraction.
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The first Apple viewer could contain hardware that will justify the price: the company plans to equip it with advanced and potencial plus components, including some chips far superior to the M1 processors present in Macs and MacBooks. Expongo VR are expected to be in a higher resolution than the competition and the headset may also include a dedicated fan, according to Bloomberg sources. This is an interesting figure, considering the company's tendency to elevate the fans from its products to streamline their design. Secondly, the Apple N301 is still in development and far from final shape: the need to insert a fan has resulted in a more intrusive prototype that could potentially cause neck problems. So the designers had to reduce the viewer to the point of not being able to use glasses. Consequently, it was necessary to develop a system for inserting prescription lenses in front of VR screens. To reduce weight, the headset could have a fabric shell, unlike the metal designs of recent products like the AirPods Pro. It appears that some prototypes are similar in size to the Oculus Quest standalone headset, with external cameras for AR functions and the hand tracking, potentially for functionality like virtual typing. It is still premature to imagine a release date, although Apple could foresee its launch in 2022, so it is possible that we will know more during the year. Of course it could suffer further delays, the source herself indicates that Covid has slowed down the process, limiting the time available to Apple technicians inside the infamous secret laboratories. The project could even be cancelled: always according to the sources, the company believes that the AR viewers, codenamed N421, are a more mass product. The latter should arrive in 2023. N421 could be the Apple Glass we've been hearing about for years. In any case we will have to wait until more information arrives to distinguish the two devices, to get a clearer idea of which of the two will reach first and which will go to define the niche of target products in full Apple style.