Apple Inc. has pushed back its long-rumored augmented reality headset to 2022 with a pair of smart glasses to follow in 2023, according to a new report.

The Information, quoting people familiar with the matter, said Apple executives shared the company’s product roadmap for the devices at an internal presentation to employees in October. Apple Vice President Mike Rockwell is said to have provided new details about the design and features of the AR headset, codenamed N301 at the meeting.

According to the report, the N301 resembles a slimmer version of the Oculus Quest (pictured), a virtual reality headset launched in May by Facebook Inc. Although AR is primarily referenced, the headset itself apparently is a combination of both AR and virtual reality, a so-called mixed-reality headset. The headset is reported to use external cameras to map a user’s surroundings and includes a high-resolution display.

The smart glasses, due a year later, will be strictly AR, with early prototypes that “look like high-priced sunglasses with thick frames that house the battery and chips.”

Reports have circulated for several years that Apple is working on an AR headset. Most recent reports suggest that it may be announced in the first half of 2020, but it would appear that the iPhone maker is struggling with the technology.

Bloomberg, confirming The Information story, reported that the reason the AR headset was pushed back is that both hardware and software need to be developed. Along with a new 3-D sensor that’s expected to debut in a new iPad Pro set to be released as early as the first half of 2020, Apple is also said to be working on rOS, a new operating system for the devices. About 1,000 engineers are working on the initiative, according to Bloomberg

If and when the AR headset and smart glasses come to market, Apple will already have both software and a coding base for developers.

Apple launched ARKit, an application programming interface for developers to create AR experiences for iOS, at its World Wide Developers Conference in 2017. ARKit has continued to be enhanced since then, with updates in 2018 and 2019. Although it hasn’t turned out to be a killer feature for iOS devices, it has built a strong developer community around it, one Apple could tap into as it gets closer to launching its dedicated AR headset.

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