Apple headset may start with a flawed over-the-air typing feature

Apple’s AR/VR headset may debut with over-the-air typing, but it’s currently “finicky”so typing may still require a connected iPhone.

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• What’s happening? One of the key navigation features of the Apple Reality Pro headset, in-air typing, was reportedly found to be “finicky”in testing.
• Why care? The headset is rumored to not require an iPhone for its functionality, but you may need to use it for typing until air typing is improved.
• What to do? Read the full report on Bloomberg.

Air typing in an Apple headset can be frustrating

In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter on Bloomberg, Mark Gurman provided additional tidbits on Apple’s rumored augmented reality headset, which is supposed to combine augmented and virtual reality capabilities in a single device.

The device is expected to feature a suite of internal and external cameras for advanced eye and hand tracking. The user will reportedly navigate the device using a series of gestures, including the ability to type on a virtual keyboard.

But that supposed air typing feature doesn’t seem to be in good enough shape, although that doesn’t seem to stop the company from releasing it initially and fixing any shortcomings in future software updates:

I was told that a key feature for typing – typing in the air – is available in the latest internal prototypes. But it was finicky in testing. So if you purchase the first headset, you can still connect your iPhone to use its touchscreen keyboard. Apple hopes for quick improvements after the release of the device. The company expects its headset to follow the same path as the original Apple Watch in this regard.

It doesn’t seem right to me. Does Apple expect me to remove my headset whenever I need to use my iPhone to type?

Imagine if the iPhone debuted with a faulty touch keyboard

The original Apple Watch debuted with a very confusing interface that made it difficult to navigate the device. It was one of the rare mistakes in this regard, but Apple fixed it by bringing in Adobe’s Kevin Lynch to rethink the Apple Watch software.

Releasing a wearable device with a confusing user interface is one thing, but releasing an AR/VR device with incorrect text input is another. Imagine if the original iPhone came with a non-functional software keyboard… It could quickly doom it, because before the iPhone, people weren’t used to typing on a piece of glass. Read: How to type diacritics in macOS

Learn more about your Apple headset

Other tidbits from the Gourmet newsletter:

iPhone not required

The headset “most likely”will not need an iPhone to set up or use, as the latest test versions of the device and its xrOS operating system “can be set up without an iPhone and can download custom content and iCloud data directly from the cloud. ”

Easy setup

As with other Apple devices, there will be a Quick Setup feature to automatically transfer user data and related settings from a nearby iPhone or iPad.

No remote control

The Apple headset does not have a remote control. Instead, writes Gurman, it will be controlled by “the eyes and hands of the user.”

Reality One and Reality Pro second generation

After years of development, Apple’s first AR/VR headset could be ready for public presentation at WWDC23 in June and a launch around the end of 2023. The first device, dubbed Reality Pro, should cost around $3,000, but Gurman notes that “there’s a second-generation Reality Pro version already in development.”

It’s not clear if it’ll be cheaper than the first generation model, but Gurman found out it has to run faster because it has to be powered by a version of Apple’s upcoming M3 or M4 chip.

“While the first model will have an M2 chip, as well as a secondary chip for processing augmented and virtual reality, its power is not enough to display graphics at the level that Apple would ideally want,” he explains. “For example, FaceTime will only support realistic VR experiences of two people at a time, rather than all participants in a conference call.”

Also, towards the end of 2024 or 2025, a more affordable Apple headset (Reality One) with a low-cost display and iPhone-class chips may arrive. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently revealed that the budget edition of Apple’s headsets could be offered in more expensive and cheaper versions.