Since 2017, we’ve been hearing rumours about Apple’s secret work on augmented reality glasses.

Now analysts predict that the company will begin production on a version of the glasses before the end of 2019.

If the patents and a secret meeting with a company that supplies AR components are anything to go on, the glasses will take the form of an iPhone accessory.

Great, another way to bury your face in your phone.

Here’s Inverse with more:

To start, Apple’s foray into AR will remain heavily reliant on its smartphone. This is according to the famous Apple Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who predicts that Apple’s AR headset will use the iPhone’s computational power to render images, crunch data, connect to the internet, and tap into locational services, according to a March 8 9to5Mac report.

Kuo didn’t specify exactly how the pairing will work, but it could function similarly to how the Apple Watch and iPhone communicate with one another.

Only this time, instead of pulling health data from the Apple Watch, the glasses would send visual information to the iPhone, which it will then process to make interactive holograms and 3D images.

The Apple Watch has already changed the way that we exercise and communicate. A study was done last year that proved that owning an Apple Watch had the potential to increase your lifespan by up to two years.

The glasses are set to revolutionise how we see the world. The idea is that they will superimpose computer-generated images in the real world.

Over to Komando with more on how they might work:

All of this real-time video processing and data will certainly require an extremely fast connection, something that current Bluetooth connections will struggle to deliver.

This is why some are speculating that, together with 5G cellular connections, Apple’s smart glasses might use the new WiGig standard for short-range communications instead.

WiGig is an ultra-fast short-range Wi-Fi standard that uses the higher bandwidth 60GHz spectrum. The higher bandwidth and lower congestion of 60 GHz spectrum allow for lower latency and real-time data transfers critical to VR, gaming and display mirroring technologies. Note: The theoretical speed of WiGi is from 8 Gbps and beyond.

While all of this is well-informed speculation at the moment, one thing is for certain – whatever they releases will be sleek, stylish and most importantly, effective.

In the interim, you can get your hands on all things Apple related at Digicape, South Africa’s largest independent Apple retailer.

If you want to shop around, including all the latest accessories and deals on Apple Watches, check out their website.

While you’re there, bookmark it, to ensure you stay up to speed with everything Apple-related that’s headed our way.

[sources:inverse&komando]