Bad news for fans of bad products. Apple won’t be shipping a pair of augmented reality glasses that require a tethered connection to the Mac after all. Mark Gurman at Bloomberg has the exclusive development, including a thorough description of how the product would have worked. Based on Mark’s reporting, this project was buried in compromises that ultimately made it undesirable.
Apple Glasses remain something technology enthusiasts want to see from Apple, but this Mac-connected hardware sounded like a dud based on the direction of the project. Here’s Mark Gurman reporting on the project cancelation:
Apple Inc. has canceled a project to build advanced augmented reality glasses that would pair with its devices, marking the latest setback in its effort to create a headset that appeals to typical consumers.
The company shuttered the program this week, according to people with knowledge of the move. The now-canceled product would have looked like normal glasses but include built-in displays and require a connection to a Mac, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the work wasn’t public. An Apple representative declined to comment.
People want to wear a pair of augmented reality smart glasses wherever they go, not when they’re stuck at their desk or behind a laptop. Apple knows that of course, which is why the project initially tried to use the iPhone for compute and not the Mac, but that product wasn’t feasible for Apple.
Gurman details a number of new technologies that Apple hoped to use in the tethered smart glasses product, however.
The company worked on including lenses that could change their tint depending on what a user is doing. The idea was to tell an onlooker if the person is present and approachable — or busy working on computing tasks.
Still, needing a tethered computer is too tall of an ask to make a hit product. Read Mark Gurman’s full story at Bloomberg.
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