Much like myself and anyone else with major resolutions, Apple's got big plans for 2020. According to a new report, the new Apple Glasses (opens in new tab), as well as add 5G connectivity to the iPhone, are arriving in the new year.
These tidbits come via Bloomberg's (opens in new tab) Mark Gurman, a reliable reporter on Apple leaks. Apple's unnamed augmented reality eyewear look to succeed where Google swung and missed with Glass, syncing with iPhones, and presenting data — including messages, maps and games — right in front of your eyes.
The glasses "are expected to synchronize with a wearer’s iPhone to display things such as texts, emails, maps, and games over the user’s field of vision." Apple Glasses may even come with a separate app store, which makes sense given how Apple uses different digital storefronts to dispense apps for macOS, tvOS and watchOS.
Gurman even claims that Apple's hoping the glasses will be, "if all goes perfectly, an eventual successor to the iPhone."
The Bloomberg reports also says that Apple is hiring graphics and game development experts to better establish the Apple Glasses as the category leader.
iPhone 12: 5G a Lock Plus 3D Camera
His report also pegs Apple's 2020 iPhone (aka iPhone 12 (opens in new tab)) as the model to finally debut 5G connectivity in an iPhone, a 3D camera on the back and "a much beefier processor." The latter will tie into the AR glasses, "improving the accuracy of object placement in augmented-reality apps, which overlay virtual images on the real world."
Elsewhere in the smart glasses world, Amazon's about to roll out the Alexa-powered Echo Frames (opens in new tab), while Bose Frames (opens in new tab)' take on AR glasses is audio based and Snap's Spectacles 3 (opens in new tab) are adding a second camera for three-dimensional photography for AR apps.
Most recently, iOS 13 code (opens in new tab) spilled the beans on the continued development of Apple's AR Glasses, and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted the eyewear is coming in the 2nd quarter of 2020 (opens in new tab).
- 5 Ways 5G Will Change Your Life (opens in new tab)
- iPhone 11 Pro vs. iPhone X: Should You Upgrade? (opens in new tab)
- Amazon Echo Frames Hands-On Review: On Your Face, Alexa (opens in new tab)