Apple will unveil the iPhone 11 series next week, likely alongside new Apple Watch models, but these aren’t the only new iOS products the company is developing.
According to MacRumors, the iOS 13 operating system (for iPhones and iPads) contains pretty strong evidence that some form of AR hardware is in development. The site discovered various files referring to augmented reality, such as “ARStarBoardViewController” and “ARStarBoardSceneManager”, as well as a “STARTester” app with “worn” and “held” states for what sounds an awful lot like an AR wearable.
Reportedly, there is even a ReadMe file that refers to a system called StarBoard for stereo AR apps, and names a device called Garta. Previously, Apple’s internal code name for the whole AR glasses project has been said to be “T288″ so this may represent one of perhaps many devices in that range.
There are no images for these Apple Glasses prototypes, and no official timeline for their launch. Apple doesn’t talk publicly about whatever projects it may have in development, but Tim Cook did say in the past the company is working on products that haven’t been rumored.
Multiple sources have claimed that Apple plans to release augmented reality glasses as early as 2020, including analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, CNET, and Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, who in November 2017 reported that Apple’s headset would run a custom iOS-based operating system dubbed “rOS” for “reality operating system.”
Taeyeon Kim, a Behance designer has uploaded the designs of how he thinks the AR glasses should look like:
