Apple’s oft-rumored and as-yet-unrealized mixed reality headset is said to be introduced in June, during the company’s annual developer conference. Apparently the AR/VR headset has been in the works since 2015! It was due to be unveiled in June 2022, before being moved to January this year, then pushed back to “spring” again, only to be moved once more to June.
Naturally, all of this information comes from unconfirmed rumors, so whether this number of delays actually happened internally in Cupertino only Apple really knows. The point is, it’s been a long time coming and there is still some waiting to be done.
The latest delay is due to hardware and software issues that have yet to be resolved. The decision for the latest postponement was made earlier this month, presumably. While the device will be announced at Apple’s WorldWide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June, it should only be available “later this year.” Today’s report warns that “the times could always change again,” so keep that in mind. On the other hand, Apple is “intent to bring the device to market by the end of 2023, if possible”, for what it’s worth.
The mixed reality headset will be Apple’s “next big thing,” according to the report, which is a nice way of saying it’s the next product category it wants to cash in to lessen its reliance on iPhone sales, which it now make up more than 50% of its turnover. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but what remains to be seen is whether Apple can work enough magic to make the whole idea seem worth it to mainstream consumers. So far, all headsets have failed at this. Obviously Apple has a proven track record of innovating to make new products “work” where competitors used to be cumbersome, so let’s see what happens. Then again, the company apparently plans to charge around $3,000 for its headset, which makes it pretty niche by default.
The headset could be the hero product in a year that will reportedly be characterized by a lack of significant changes to the Apple Watch, AirPods or iPad. The headset allegedly includes an M2 chip “for Macs,” a pair of 4K VR displays and “a huge array of cameras” for AR. It also runs new software called xrOS (for “Xtended Reality”).
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