Apple Glasses Rumors Resurface as iPhone Supplier Tapped to Make Parts for Augmented Reality Product
Catcher Technology, a Taiwanese company that manufacturers metal casings for Apple products like iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks, will make parts for an augmented reality product, according to Nikkei Asian Review.
Catcher chairman Allen Horng reportedly said augmented reality products "need to look good" and "be light enough to wear."
"Based on what we have learned, [new AR products] need to look good and be light enough to wear ... that makes the casings for such device very complicated to manufacture and there are still a lot of challenges to overcome currently," Catcher Chairman Allen Horng told analysts and reporters in an earnings conference on Tuesday.
Horng would not disclose which company was behind the augmented reality product, but given the comments and Catcher's relationship with Apple, the report has reignited speculation about so-called Apple Glasses.
Apple is reportedly exploring digital glasses that would connect wirelessly to iPhones and "show images and other information in the wearer's field of vision." The company supposedly has prototyped "several different kinds" of wearable augmented reality products, but a launch is still far away.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has repeatedly expressed a "profound interest" in augmented reality, recently said "the technology itself doesn't exist" to make the glasses "in a quality way." He said there are "huge challenges" with "the display technology required, as well as putting enough stuff around your face."
Jeff Pu, an analyst at Taipei-based Yuanta Investment Consulting, believes Apple's glasses will go on sale as soon as the end of 2019. Earlier reports mentioned 2018 as a possible timeframe, but that sounds increasingly unlikely.
Today's report marks the second time Catcher Technology has surfaced in the Apple rumor mill this week. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo on Monday said the company will supply Apple with "more complex" metal frames for iPhones launching in 2018 for the purpose of improving cellular signal and data transmission.
Popular Stories
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
Best Buy is discounting a collection of M3 MacBook Pro computers today, this time focusing on the 14-inch version of the laptop. Every deal in this sale requires you to have a My Best Buy Plus or Total membership, although non-members can still get solid second-best prices on these MacBook Pro models. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a...
Top Rated Comments
Apple has a history of taking big pokes at what they don't have for sale now but then seeming to forget such messaging as soon as they roll out their versions of the ridiculed.
I have a hard time myself seeing glasses-based technology go mainstream. But, as is, I think Apple could stick their logo on the ball in a classic ball & chain and the masses would soon be struggling to get from here to there... and seemingly so very proud of it. Then "upgrading" the ball the very next year to get the slightly different colored version. Then "upgrading" the ball again the next year to get the "thinnest ball ever but with the same great weight." Then happily rolling with it when Apple decides to jettison the crucial chain portion to an accessory (upsell) item (sold separately of course). Then, buying multiple chains once Apple decides to roll out the fashion (chain) collection in a variety of colors & finishes.
1) “Apple will never do X.”
Next on deck:
2) “Okay, Apple is doing X, but people will never buy it.”
3) “Everyone buying X are sheep.”
4) “Went ahead and bought X, but *complaint about non-inclusion of outdated technology*”
5) (When next rumor comes along) “Apple was great when it did X, but now it lost its way!”
Always the same cycle every damn time.
Okay I'm done with the puns...in reality I could totally see Apple going this route if they can work out the tech. I foresee a wall of eyeglass options right near the table of watches, where you and your assigned concierge can try out different shapes, sizes, and finishes, and they custom order the glasses for you just like an optician would. The difference here is the tech built into the lenses. If the product can be developed successfully it would continue to move Apple Retail into becoming a focus (hey, another pun!) of style and personal appearance, not just tech.
...I'll hand you a dictionary.