Apple Glasses could come with a half-inch Sony OLED microdisplay, probable release by 2022

A recent leak hints at the fact that after years of planning, Apple could finally be past the planning stages for Apple Glass and moving towards a potential launch schedule.

While Young initially said that these displays will be used for AR/VR glasses, he later clarified that Apple plans to use them for AR-only designs. (9to5Mac)

The much-awaited, much-speculated Apple Glasses have had a rumored 2022 launch date for months, but a recent leak has given us some insight into some of the first concrete spec details we have seen so far.

Displays expert Ross Young tweeted that he had heard from multiple sources that Apple is pursuing AR/VR glasses using Sony microOLEDs. 0.5", 1280x960 resolution, 1H'22 intro.'

I should clarify that this is AR only. It will use projection optics inside the glasses.

— Ross Young (@DSCCRoss) October 22, 2020

By Sony microOLEDs in his tweet, Young is referring to Sony's OLED microdisplay technology which the company says is built for AR/VR glasses and other applications, reports TechRadar. The company says that these OLED microdisplays have “a 100,000:1 contrast ratio, a response speed of 0.01ms or less, and a wide color gamut”.

According to Young, the 0.5-inch display will have a pixels-per-inch count of over 3,000. And considering lenses on glasses are typically about two inches wide, this means that the OLED microdisplays will be embedded inside larger lenses, which could limit the field of view of the AR HUD. Or perhaps the OLED portion of the lens might be able to project its visual data across the entire lens surface.

While Young initially said that these displays will be used for AR/VR glasses, he later clarified that Apple plans to use them for AR-only designs. This falls in line with rumours that have been doing the rounds so far about AR Glasses launching by 2022 and the VR/AR hybrid headsets launching by 2023 or later still.

Young had also predicted that the 2021 line-up of Apple's iPhone 13 devices would come with integrated touch OLED screens with 120Hz ProMotion display. This information hints at the possibility of Young having inside sources at Apple or at its manufacturing partners.