Microsoft's approach is clunky and unsexy that's why. You wear an entire PC on your head essentially.
Apple's approach seems to be powerful iPhone in pocket, wirelessly talk to a dumb display/sensors on your head.
Look what Apple did with watches...
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Sure they did. Except those watches don't need several cameras to track your movement without which the AR overlays aren't possible.
Those cameras need video processing - that's big, hot and heavy compute capability somewhere nearby the camera itself because you can't stream that e.g. using Bluetooth to a phone in your pocket.
That compute also sucks batteries dry like there is no tomorrow, so a large battery has to be somewhere.
Oh and if you want to actually display an overlay to the user (and not only some text in the corner of your eye like Google Glass did), then you need fairly large optics - laws of physics won't budge only because it is Apple.
That's why the Hololens is so clunky and unsexy. Magic Leap has put the compute and batteries in the user's pocket, but then there is a cable between the two (and the goggles aren't much lighter/less clunky really).
Yes. My idea is that Apple will do the compute on their iPhones in the user's pocket with a wireless connection between the two. The glasses will be an accessory to the phone.
Perhaps their plan is to start small and scale up only as much as will be "sexy" year over year. Rather than go all in on a massive headset and shrink with iteration.