In October Patently Apple reported that a note from TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed that Apple was working with third-party suppliers on AR glasses and would be unveiled in the first half of 2020. A month later another rumor surfaced, this time from "The Information," claiming that smartglasses wouldn't surface in the market until 2022-2023. 

Then last week Apple's modem partner Qualcomm introduced their new XR2 Platform that will power first-gen 5G extended reality (XR) smartglasses with foveated rendering with eye tracking with 3K X 3K resolution per eye at 90 frames per second and support 8K 360° videos at 60 frames per second, 7 cameras and much more. Our cover graphic is from Qualcomm's XR2 platform press release that provides greater platform details.

(Click on image to Enlarge)

The hype emanating from Qualcomm's announcement that smartglasses would become a reality with Qualcomm smartphone vendors making a big push into this new market segment in 2020 and Epson's recently released smartglasses accessory for smartphones is likely what's behind the rumor. Adding Apple to any rumor is a sure fire way to draw attention to these next-gen wearables.  

Taiwan's Financial News site Economic Daily is reporting on this weak rumor about smartglasses from Apple that supports analyst Ming-Chi Kuo's earlier rumor.

The rumor further speculates that Apple could likely use the new 5nm processor from TSMC to power their smartglasses.

Apple's engineering teams are exploring a number of high-end features for their smartglasses and future headsets with varying degrees of sophistication which may support the idea that Apple is planning a family of headset devices over time from a simple iPhone accessory to a full blown MR headset with the highest specifications using breakthrough technologies.

Just yesterday Patently Apple posted a granted patent report titled "Apple Patent focuses on integrating Inertial Measurement Units into future MR Headsets & Vehicles to enhance VR Experiences." To view other Apple inventions relating to possible future headsets, see our archives here.