Apple AR glasses tipped to launch in 2020 as an iPhone accessory

Apple's long-rumored augmented reality glasses could be with us as early as next year, according to reputable industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Kuo says manufacturing on the AR specs will get underway at the end of this year or the start of the next one, according to money.udn.com. He also says that they will be reliant on a connected iPhone to do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of processing and connectivity.

That should ensure the glasses themselves stay relatively lightweight and comfortable to wear – more Google Glass than Microsoft HoloLens.

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While this isn't official confirmation that the Apple AR glasses are real, Kuo does have one of the best records in the business when it comes to predicting Apple's future moves – and this move is one that's now widely expected.

Apple's next big thing?

We know that Apple boss Tim Cook is a big fan of augmented reality, and it is of course one of the features you can play around with on recent versions of iOS.

Apple has been busy picking up companies with an interest in AR, which suggests it's prepping a product of its own – and recently Cook said that Apple had several new products in the pipeline that could "blow you away".

We've also seen a bunch of Apple patents appear recently, explaining how specially-designed lenses could be used to cast images on a user's eye, and how a touchscreen surface (like an iPhone or an iPad) could be used as a controller.

Add all those clues up and it's a fairly convincing case. If Kuo is right, we'll see the fruits of Apple's labor at some point in 2020.