A large part of the consternation surrounding Apple’s purported AR/VR headset is that it falls short of the real killer product, AR glasses. While writing my last post, it dawned on me this consternation is reminiscent to that surrounding Apple’s various notches. Tech enthusiasts want Apple to deliver a true edge-to-edge experience with the camera, FaceID, and other sensors somehow behind the display. I am using the present tense “want”, because it’s been over five years since the notch was introduced with the iPhone X and no one, including Apple, has been able to meaningfully deliver a true edge-to-edge experience.

Calling an AR/VR headset “a notch for your face” sounds like snark and while it does make me chuckle, I think it’s incredibly apt in that I suspect the realities of AR glasses today are the same realities of true edge-to-edge displays in 2017. The capabilities just aren’t here and it’s reasonable to assume that they aren’t going to get here for years to come. The choice for Apple isn’t “do a headset or do AR glasses” just like the choice wasn’t “do the notch or do edge-to-edge.” In both cases, it’s “do something incremental or do nothing.”