According to a new Bloomberg report, Apple will debut its eagerly awaited mixed reality headset this spring, with customer sales starting in the fall of 2023.
The revelation follows remarks made by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo last week, who claimed that delays in software development and mechanical component problems have caused Apple to push back shipment until the second half of 2023.
Kuo also anticipated that Apple would announce its headset either in the spring or at the company’s developer event, which is typically in June.
Bloomberg reported on Sunday that xrOS, the new operating system that will power Apple’s next headset, has already been made available to a small number of software developers. The headset will be called Reality Pro, according to the report. Apple uses the “Pro” appendage across its higher-end, power-user-focused product lines.
Apple has already made a foray into mixed, virtual and augmented reality efforts on iOS and iPadOS, its iPhone and iPad operating systems. With the use of Apple’s software, businesses and developers can allow consumers to do everything from put on glasses to visualize furniture purchases in their homes.
But a prospective headset from Apple would mark an entrance into a new product line that would put Apple in direct competition with Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, which has spent billions of dollars to the chagrin of investors building out Zuckerberg’s vision for the metaverse
Apple’s mixed reality offering will differ from Meta’s Quest line, which is a pure virtual reality product. Mixed reality augments a user’s environment, rather than replacing it entirely with a computer-generated view.
According to the report, Apple has focused the majority of its work on the headset and as a result, many of its other products, including its MacBooks, Watch, TV, and iPads, will only receive minor updates this year.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
