WWDC 2022 global developer conference is about to be held, and many predictions about Apple's new products are also divergent. It is also reported that Apple may release ar/mr head display devices that have "bounced tickets" for many times on this WWDC. However, guomingqi responded to this statement by posting a message on twitter on May 31. He believes that since it will take some time for Apple's ar/mr headset to enter mass production, it will not release the ar/mr headset and the rumored realityos on this year's WWDC.
Some analysts disclosed to jiwei.com that the reason why the release date of this product has been delayed is mainly due to the front-end design changes, and the new design verification has been affected by the epidemic. "It was originally released in September and October, but now it can only be mass produced by the end of the year at the earliest. The previous research and development process is more than two months late, because the design change is related to the epidemic situation."
Poor progress in optical design and assembly
"We understand that the main reason for Apple's design change is that there is a problem with the optical part and the heat is serious. It should be that the design of both the lens and the optical waveguide needs to be changed." The analyst added.
In fact, apple is not the only terminal brand with heating problems. At present, "how to achieve more effective heat dissipation" has become a technical threshold that many head display devices cannot bypass.
The author learned from the industry that the optical design in the head display equipment will use the principle similar to the micro projection. As the running time becomes longer, the machine will start to heat from the inside. If the machine cannot be cooled continuously and effectively, the phenomenon of "thermal defocusing" may occur.
The lens, materials, structural parts and other components inside the machine will have the problem of "thermal expansion and cold contraction". Each component has a different degree of heat resistance, and the offset values are also different. This will cause the focus of the lens to move, and the original clear picture will be blurred due to the focal length deviation.
Industry insiders pointed out: "in order to achieve the purpose of efficient heat dissipation, each enterprise actually has different plans. For example, the heat dissipation design of Apple laptop is to export the internal heat through metal materials and structures, but some manufacturers will also use other means such as heat dissipation fans and heat dissipation pastes."
It should be noted that in order to make differentiated products, Apple has used very high configuration in many aspects such as the system, software content and display of MR head display device. At the same time, it will also carry a main chip with super computing power. In order to avoid overheating of the main chip, apple has also designed a built-in cooling fan for it. If the optical link is enhanced by adding fans, the weight and volume of the end product may be limited.
The above industry personage said: "the headset device attaches great importance to the comfort of users. Before, it could not be popularized on a large scale because the product is not portable and uncomfortable to wear. Therefore, Apple will take into account the volume and weight. It is less likely to continue to increase the built-in cooling fan. It is more likely to take both sides into account by changing the material or design."
Except that the development of parts and components was not as expected, the test line progress of the assembly plant seemed to be one of the reasons for the delay of release.
Previously, JPMorgan Chase disclosed the list of some suppliers of Apple's head display equipment in its forecast report, among which the manufacturers involved in optical design include daliguang and jinguoguang, which provide camera lenses, and yujingguang and yangmingguang, which provide HMD Fresnel lenses. The whole machine is assembled by Heshuo.
The analyst mentioned above told jiwei.com: "now even the OEM is not sure about the specific release time, and the current progress of the assembly process is not very good. The assembly accuracy of such products has an obvious impact on the effect, so Apple should give very high requirements. Although the supply chain is an industry-leading assembly plant, it is still difficult to do so."
Why not make do with it
A manufacturer in Apple's supply chain told jiwei.com: "the customer pays the most attention to the new product test line, so they also find the most problems. Their purpose is to collect enough data in this link to repeatedly verify the design, process, materials and other problems, and solve them before entering mass production. Therefore, the supplier is the most" painful "at this stage."
According to his introduction, generally, the test line of new consumer electronics projects is made of a small batch of materials. Maybe a few hundred PCs is enough, and you can go to the next step. However, Apple's projects use thousands of PCs to test the line, at least 2-3000 PCs. they need to see enough data to pass the verification before moving to the next step.
The other party also added: "generally, Apple will not easily modify the parameters and specifications of its design end. Unless they personally go off to see the data in the trial production stage, the suppliers can not do it after many attempts and efforts, and the more they do, the more they lose. They will consider putting the specifications aside a little, but it is only a small adjustment."
In fact, the head display device is close to the human eye during use. Previously released devices will basically cause discomfort to varying degrees due to long wearing time. If Apple relaxes the trial production requirements for the smooth release, which leads to users' use, it will not pay off for a brand like apple.
In addition to the impact on the brand image, the rush to launch products that are not yet "mature" is not conducive to the competitive situation that apple is currently facing.
Guomingqi especially emphasized in her twitter that the reason why Apple would not release Mr related products or operating systems at this year's developer conference was to emphasize the confidentiality of the hardware specifications and operating systems of new products and avoid the impact of competitive products of similar designs on sales.
Since the second half of last year, a wave of "meta universe" fever has been triggered in many industries such as technology, Internet and finance.
In addition to the well-known technology giants such as meta, Google and Huawei, which have been deployed in this field for a long time, domestic Internet and financial enterprises such as Weizhong bank, Tencent, Netease, byte beating and iqiyi are also waiting to share this market cake, and even many enterprises have released their products before Apple.
At the current time node, it seems that the initiative has become less important for apple. On the contrary, whether the product can "make a splash" is the most important issue in front of apple.
From the perspective of consumers, in the past few years, many users have seen, used and purchased such products. In addition, such products are the product of consumption upgrading. Under the background of the downward economic environment, ordinary products have been unable to stimulate consumers' desire to buy.
From the perspective of Apple itself, labels such as "lack of innovation" and "fried cold rice" have been posted on iphone The series of products have been used for too long, and the demand of the mobile phone market has continued to shrink in the past two years. The growth of the TWS earphone market has slowed down year by year. Apple is also looking forward to launching another product that can become the "wind vane" of the industry in the field of consumer electronics.
In addition to expecting the product line itself, the head display device can also be connected with apple mobile phones, headphones, watches, ipad Even products such as laptops build a small ecosystem, enabling the interconnection of its multiple consumer electronics product lines. More and newer application scenarios can also bring new opportunities to "old products". While the product line of head display equipment has strong profitability, it also drives the original product line to achieve a new round of growth, expands the overall sales scale of consumer electronics business, and improves the comprehensive profit level of products. (proofread /lee)