Apple could start full production on its own augmented reality spectacles or headset later this year, according to renowned industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

He estimated in his latest report that the company's first production AR glasses - a rival to Google Glass - will being to be mass produced from the fourth quarter of 2019 or early 2020 at the latest.

And Apple is therefore tipped to make them available to the public at some point next year.

Kuo's report also suggested that Apple's device will be entirely dependent on an iPhone to work. It will not have its own, independent internet connection nor GPS tracking technology.

In fact, it said that the Apple AR glasses or headset won't even have a brain as such. The iPhone will do all the heavy lifting, including rendering and computing.

This could result in glasses that look similar to the concept renders created by Marti Hajek for iDrop News.

Without needing much tech in the arms, they could be light and stylish.

Of course, battery life could be an issue if you can't house a large cell. And we're not sure yet how an image will be projected onto the lenses, but we're bound to find out more in the coming months.

Apple did have a patent approved in 2016 that showed augmented reality glasses of a type, but it's hard to see exactly what they would look like from the rudimentary drawings.