Apple’s mixed reality headset reportedly uses iris scanning for payments and sign-ins | Engadget

Apple’s long-rumored AR/VR headset may have a few extra tricks. The Information‘s sources claim the mixed reality hardware will use iris scanning for signing in and making payments. This would make it easier to buy apps and could even simplify multi-user support, according to the tipsters. Apple has declined to comment, but it reportedly bought eye-tracking glasses creator SensoMotorics in 2017 with the headset in mind. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also said in 2021 that Primax would supply the eye tracking modules, and that they support iris detection.

The headset might also have a few advantages over Meta’s just-announced Quest Pro. Two of the previously claimed 14 cameras will supposedly track your legs, giving it an advantage in full-body tracking versus the 10-camera Meta device (which doesn’t have leg-focused cams). The goggle-like design’s combination of aluminum, fabric and glass is also said to be lighter than the 1.6-pound Quest Pro, although the tipsters didn’t say by how much.

Past rumors also hinted at other premium features, including very high-resolution displays, detailed face expression tracking and even a way to magnetically clip on custom prescription lenses. The headset might be powered by the M2 chip in recent Macs, but could use a low display refresh rate to extend battery life at the expense of a more natural-feeling experience.

Numerous reported leaks have pointed to a headset launch sometime in 2023. The question is whether or not any final product will be accessible. More than one rumor has floated a price tag as high as $3,000. You might get more features than the $1,500 Quest Pro, but you’d also pay for them. Even more so than with Meta’s hardware, that pricing could limit the initial Apple headset’s audience to developers and other pro creators.