Apple’s AR Glasses may be indefinitely delayed, so Apple will need to innovate more on iPhone and folding screens are likely
I was terribly disappointed, though not surprised, to hear that the rumored Apple Glasses had been delayed indefinitely. This doesn’t mean Apple Glasses are canceled, it just means we probably won’t see them at WWDC mid-year, or on sale for the holidays. Now, I guess Apple will have to make a foldable iPhone. In fact, if I were a betting man, I’d say canceling glasses makes an iPhone Flip a sure thing.
I am sure that the future of phones will be on our faces. Every Black Mirror episode involving wearable glasses, implanted eyeball technology, and whatever other augmented reality state technology can offer, I’m sure that is the future. It makes too much sense.
Since the dawn of the iPhone, the smartphone world has been battling the limitations of the form factor. It’s no coincidence that phones have been steadily growing in size. The smartphone and all its connectivity unlock the entire world from your pocket. How can you contain the world in a six-inch display?
You cannot. If we truly want to unlock the potential of mobile technology, we must expand its scope to the horizon. A smartphone is limited to its tiny shape and its small display. Glasses make everything a screen, without needing to hold anything in your hand.
When AR glasses are finally done right, the smartphone is going to seem quaint by comparison. Kids will marvel at people using smartphones in old movies the way we marvel at gigantic old cathode ray tube TV sets. They will seem at once too big and too small, and entirely unsuited for the future.
It seems clear that Apple pulled the brakes on its Glasses plans because AR glasses, in general, are not ready. They have yet to be done right. Apple is not a newcomer to most markets. It doesn’t rush to release the first of anything. It waits until it can do a product right.
What will Apple Glasses done right look like? I’d expect a near-seamless blending of the real world and the computer generated. There are so many pieces to the puzzle to make that happen, and then extend that reality into useful features that can supplant a smartphone.
