Apple's AR/VR headset could arrive in 2022 with this killer upgrade

(Epitome credit: Time to come)

Nosotros've heard a groovy many rumors most the upcoming Apple VR and mixed reality headset, including news of a possible delay caused by its complicated design. The latest tidbit may tell us a little more than most how the headset connects.

Co-ordinate to a new investor note from Ming-Chi Kuo (via 9to5Mac), well known for his Apple tree predictions, the Apple headset will utilize Wi-Fi 6E to offer college bandwidth and low latency connectivity. Which hopefully means you won't demand an awkward wired connexion.

Everything we know nigh the Apple VR and mixed reality headset
iPhone 13 review: The best iPhone for most people
Plus: MacBook Pro 2021 gets poor repairability score — only at that place's some good news

Kuo points out that mixed reality is currently reliant on wired connections because at that place'due south then much data that needs to be transferred. Thankfully, Wi-Fi 6E's higher bandwidth and low latency connections may allow Apple to skip the cablevision altogether, and offering its VR and AR experiences without having a physical connectedness to a separate device.

Wi-Fi 6E utilizes make new spectrum and has been designed for moving big amounts of information through the air. While the bachelor bandwidth is the same as Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E offers a great many boosted advantages.

Wi-Fi 6E also takes advantage of 100 new data channels and seven ultra-wide 160 MHz channels, rather than the aforementioned congested spectrum and channels equally Wi-Fi half dozen. Not just does this hateful there's much less interference, it allows Wi-Fi 6E to offer lower latency (as low as 2 milliseconds) and avoid any immersion-killing lag.

Wi-Fi 6E also needs fewer antennas, which means devices can be smaller and lighter.

Sadly, Apple may however demand to rely on an external device, since all the hardware needed to power a standalone VR and mixed reality headset would end upwards increasing the headset's weight while simultaneously lowering the battery life. Doing it wirelessly means all the hard work can be handled past an iPhone or Mac instead.

Of course, Apple wouldn't be the get-go headset-maker to add more advanced wireless capabilities in its products. The Oculus Quest 2 supports Wi-Fi 6 which it uses to stream in 120Hz, rather than the 90Hz refresh rate offered using Wi-Fi 5. Kuo also predicts that both Meta/Facebook and Sony are expected to join Apple in launching more Wi-Fi 6 and 6E-enabled headsets next twelvemonth.

Apple VR/AR headset: Bloomberg's Gurman weighs in

Bloomberg'southward Marker Gurman has likewise reiterated a number of Apple VR and mixed reality headset rumors in the latest edition of his 'Ability On' newsletter. While there isn't much new information, Gurman has a history of knowing his stuff.

Gurman notes that the Apple VR and AR headset is going to be pricey, which also lines up with previous rumors, and that both its functionality and toll volition exist like to whichever headset Meta has lined upward to succeed the Oculus Quest two.

Judging from previous comments made past Facebook/Meta employees, that's likely to be the Oculus Quest Pro. But if what Gurman says is truthful, Apple tree is going to accept some serious competition when its headset launches.

Previous reports claim that Apple tree'south mixed reality headset isn't really designed to be a consumer product. Instead, it'southward a gateway device to set up developers and consumers for the augmented reality Apple Glasses. The idea being that by offering an AR and VR headset ahead of time, Apple Spectacles volition accept much ameliorate app support than it otherwise would have done.

Unfortunately, we don't know when either device volition launch. While initially expected to launch in early 2022, Minch-Chi Kuo now claims product on Apple's mixed reality headset won't brainstorm until Q4 2022, a delay he blames on the headset's complex design and the ongoing supply concatenation issues experienced across the tech manufacture. Meanwhile, Apple Glasses aren't probable to make it until 2023 at the accented earliest.

More from Tom's Guide

More: What we know most the augmented reality Apple Spectacles
The best early Apple tree Blackness Friday deals now

Tom is the Tom'southward Guide's Automotive Editor, which means he can usually be constitute knee deep in stats the latest and best electric cars, or checking out some sort of driving gadget. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He'southward usually found trying to squeeze another behemothic Lego ready onto the shelf, draining very big cups of coffee, or complaining that Ikea won't let him buy the stuff he really needs online.