Apple AR eyewear 'approaching liftoff' says new report

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Morgan Stanley report says Apple's entry into the eyewear market will be 'game changer'

Apple Glass
(Image credit: Martin Hajek/iDropnews)

Apple has yet to enter either the VR headset or smart glasses market, but analysts at Morgan Stanley believe that the company is “approaching liftoff," noting a similarity in patenting between now and the period ahead of the original Apple Watch’s launch in 2015.  

“Apple's patent portfolio is beginning to mirror the period prior to the Watch launch,” the Morgan Stanley report, seen by Investors.com, reads. 

Then there’s a pair of Apple Glasses, which would we fully focused on augmented reality, which is reportedly due much later.

While it seems likely that Morgan Stanley is referring to the latter, there’s undoubtedly some crossover in terms of the functionality and patent applications. And there have certainly been plenty of AR patent applications from Apple of late, with everything from smart rings for hand gestures and vibrating socks to eye projection and iPhone privacy covered.  

The Morgan Stanley report does highlight the extreme challenges involved in making an AR wearable a reality, but states that Apple is still in the home stretch. “The enormity of the technical challenge — compressing daylong battery, 5G, compute, cameras, lidar, projectors and wave guide lenses into a lightweight, attractive pair of glasses — is hard to overstate," the analysts wrote. "But we are approaching liftoff."

“Apple has a long history of disrupting new markets and ultimately growing the addressable market size well beyond initial expectations,” it added. 

That’s certainly true. The iPod kicked off the mass adoption of MP3 players at a time when they were niche, and the company repeated the feat with the iPhone six years later. 

Alan Martin
Alan Martin

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. He also handles all the Wordle coverage on Tom's Guide and has been playing the addictive NYT game for the last several years in an effort to keep his streak forever intact.