The countdown has begun; the Magic Leap 2 AR headset is due to finally hit the shops in September, and we at Unity Developers are very excited. Magic Leap made a lot of claims in 2018, but their gear was little more than a prototype for augmented reality concepts that weren’t yet ready for a general release. It was nearly the pinnacle of aggravation to have a device that teased authentic augmented reality content but wasn’t a finished product. Since then, we have been eagerly awaiting the Magic Leap 2—the item that we had originally wanted four years ago. Now, it seems, the waiting is over.

Up until now we have had to guess at both formal release date and a real price, but now the company has confirmed the launch for the end of September, and has announced a price framework for the range of devices. We have been told that the Magic Leap 2 will become available to the public on the 30th September, and will range in price from an entry level $3,299, to an eye-watering $5,000 for the Enterprise version, which is intended for large-scale IT deployments. In between the two versions is also a Developer Pro version for a fairly reasonable $4,099, which gives the user access to a range of developer tools and even sample projects to get you started. While no specific UK prices have been announced yet, the three models are expected to cost broadly the same as the US units.

Along with prices, Magic Lap have also confirmed the specifications for the uprated AR glasses, with the main points being:

• Display – 1440x 1760 pixels resolution and a brightness between 20 and 2,000 Nits.
• Cameras – 12.6Mp Autofocus RGB camera with 4k at 30FPS or 1920×1080 at 60FPS.
• Storage – 256Gb.
• CPU – AMD 7nm Quad core Zen2 X86.
• GPU – AMD GFX10.2: 1SE 1SA 4WGP 2RB + 1Mb L2 Cache, 964MHz / 1.8GHz max.
• Sensors – 3x wide FoV cameras, Depth camera, RGB camera, 4x ambient light sensors, eye-tracking cameras.
• Internal sensors – 4 x IMU, 3-axis accelerometer and gyroscope, 2x 3-axis magnetometer, 2x altimeter.
• Weight – the unit will weigh around 260 grams.

In addition to what we already know, the business has hinted at the introduction of a number of new features, including eye-tracking cameras and dynamic dimming lenses, which are both able to modify the amount of light that is allowed to pass through them.

On September 30, The Magic Leap 2 will be available for purchase through select partners in the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. There are also plans to release the product in Japan and Singapore by the end of 2022. Each headset comes with a compute pack and controller, as well as:

• USB Type C for the connection between the compute pack and the headset.
• USB Type C charging cables and plugs.
• A headset ‘fit-kit’ with a range of nose and forehead pads.
• Integral strap for the headset.
• A shoulder strap for the compute pack.
• Wrist straps for controllers.
• Specially-designed carry case.
• Lens cleaning cloth.

Suffice to say, we can’t wait for the 30th to get here, so expect a detailed review once we have had a good play with it.