New details surrounding Apple’s rumoured AR/VR headset show that it will require a connection to another device. [Editor's note: as we first reported all the way back in 2016.]

According to The Information, the headset is designed to offload more processor-consuming tasks to another connected Apple device, such as an iPhone or Mac.

The reason for this is that the chip inside the headset does not possess Apple’s neural engine that is responsible for machine learning and AI tasks and instead wirelessly streams the data. 

Allegedly, features have been omitted from this chip intentionally to extend the headset’s battery life and allow it to be as power-efficient as possible.

Offsetting tasks

The Information further claims that the headset contains its own CPU and GPU and suggests that the hardware will be able to communicate with either iPhones or iPads, or perform in a standalone mode.

Offsetting tasks is not a new concept for Apple products as the earliest Apple Watch offloaded tasks to an iPhone before future models were better optimised to perform the tasks independently.

Last year it was suggested that the virtual reality headset would be available to consumers by 2022, with a retail price still not decided on to this day.

However, The Information reported that mass production of the chips will not be ready for at least a year, making a 2022 release schedule a difficult task.

This article was originally published on PocketGamer.biz.