Credit: Apple

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The Cupertino tech giant completed work on Apple AR chips in 2020. According to Informationthe physical designs for the three AR/VR chips are complete and the silicon is now ready for test production.

Sources familiar with the device’s development say Apple’s supply chain partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. will make the chips. Mass production is at least a year away.

Also, Information has learned more details about the Apple AR SoC. For example, it lacks the neural engine and machine learning capabilities of Apple’s other silicon.

The lack of advanced machine learning features stems from the fact that the headphones are meant to communicate wirelessly with a host device, presumably an iPhone or a computer. The host device will have the necessary computing tasks to display virtual, augmented or mixed reality images.

Apple has specifically designed custom AR chips to perform better than more general third-party silicon. The chip, for example, features better wireless data transmission, compression and decompression, and power-efficiency features.

All of those features are key to processing ultra-high-resolution video from the headset, which could allow the device to replicate “the resolution and detail of what users see in real life while displaying digital images and information right in front of their eyes.” “. However, the SoC also has its own central processing unit, which suggests that it could operate in a less advanced standalone mode.

The chip design is based on TSMC’s 5nm manufacturing process, indicating that it won’t be a state-of-the-art piece of silicon when it launches. Nevertheless, information The sources said the earphone chip doesn’t need to be as compact or powerful as the one in an iPhone.

In addition to the SoC and the other two chips, Apple would also have finished designing the image sensor and display controller for the headphones. However, TSMC has run into bottlenecks in chip manufacturing.

Apple is widely believed to be working on several head-mounted devices, including a lightweight “Apple Glass” device that could pair with an iPhone, and a more advanced and expensive mixed reality headset.

The specific device mentioned in Thursday’s report appears to be the MR headset, which Information previously reported would include ultra-high-resolution displays and advanced eye-tracking technology. That device could debut in 2022, with the lighter and sleeker “Apple Glass” arriving the following year.