If you thought the hullabaloo about Facebook , virtual reality, and the metaverse was a lot, wait till next year. Apple is expected to unveil in 2022 something at least as attention getting: a head-mounted device that has the potential to be the next biggest thing after the iPhone.
Meta Platforms, as Facebook’s parent is now known, is focused on an alternative to our current reality, one we can disappear into on our couch. Apple is raising the stakes with what analysts say are plans for a headset or smart glasses that will offer access to a layer of information, objects and data spread across our view of the real world like so much digital pixie dust—a so-called augmented reality, or AR. While the company hasn’t disclosed its plans, analysts and other industry insiders expect Apple’s first AR device could be announced by the end of 2022.