Apple VR/AR headset announcement is in sight
The mixed-reality headset could be properly revealed later this year
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Apple VR/AR headset
🥽 Apple could reveal and release its anticipated VR/AR headset later this year
🌟 A report suggests the company’s scheduled the reveal for spring
📅 The device hit shelves as early as fall
🦣 If the rumors prove true, it’ll be a real beast of a headset
Apple’s long-rumored mixed-reality headset might finally make a public appearance this spring ahead of WWDC and ship later in the year.
That’s according to Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, who says Apple had originally planned to announce the VR/AR headset in January and ship it a few months later, until the project was delayed.
His prediction tallies with another made by prolific leaker and tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who also said the headset had been pushed back further into 2023 as Apple irons out its software kinks.
Apple has reportedly already shared the headset with a small number of software developers who will test the device and prepare third-party apps. Gurman expects more developers will be brought on board in June, before the headset is finally shipped in the fall of this year, placing it on track to butt heads with the upcoming Meta Quest 3.
Details are still hazy. It’s rumored Apple is cooking up its own version of the Metaverse to coincide with the device, although its approach to multi-user virtual worlds will likely look and function very differently to Meta’s. Hopefully it will, anyway, because Meta recently laid off 11,000 employees and its Metaverse wing still isn’t forecast to turn a profit this year.
If leaks prove true, the device will pack a whopping 14 cameras to enable full-body capture, run Apple’s new xrOS operating system so as to be compatible with various existing Apple tools like Messages and FaceTime, and sport a next-gen Mac M2 chipset that will power the highest-resolution display of any consumer VR headset.
But it won’t just cater to virtual reality. Like the recently revealed HTC Vive XR Elite, Apple’s headset will offer both VR and AR, overlaying information over the real environment for use with various productivity tools.
In terms of functionality, it sounds closer to the Meta Quest Pro. Don’t expect it to rival Sony's next-gen headset – which sounds even better after Matt’s PSVR 2 hands-on demo – or offer the same caliber of titles the PSVR 2 games library includes. It sounds like Apple’s new kit has been designed for both personal and professional use – and we expect it will have a price tag to match.