Apple is unlikely to announce its rumored mixed reality headset or its new AR/VR operating system at next week's WWDC with mass production of the device still some ways off, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
In a pair of tweets on Tuesday, Kuo said he expected Apple's headset to launch in 2023, and that announcing it too early would see Apple's competitors "immediately kick off copycat projects" and release rival products before Apple's headset hits the shelves.
Kuo's thoughts echo the most recent report by Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman in which he played down expectations that Apple would make a "full-blown announcement" of its headset at WWDC.
Signs of "realityOS," the long-rumored operating system believed to run on Apple's mixed-reality headset, were first spotted in Apple source code earlier this year, and rumors of Apple announcing its headset sooner rather than later were stoked at the weekend when a trademark for "realityOS" surfaced, with a foreign filing date deadline of June 8, 2022, just two days after the main WWDC keynote.
However, both Gurman and a practicing lawyer have since said that the trademark filing date deadlines are actually a legal requirement and that their closeness to WWDC is very likely mere coincidence.
Gurman previously reported that the launch of the headset will likely be delayed until 2023 following a plethora of development problems, including issues with overheating from at least one chip on par with the M1 Pro, as well as camera and software challenges.
Mac-related announcements are reportedly more likely at WWDC this year, according to Gurman, with the launch of a new MacBook Air with M2 chip one possibility, supply chain issues notwithstanding.
Top Rated Comments
$3999.
You’re gonna love it.
It’s super important that they experience the new lock screen in person.
This will be a totally normal and even boring WWDC, that’s why they’re going out of their way to have press, influencers and some devs there, in a time when not even their employees are there in person most of the week.
Moreover, there will be plenty of opportunities to show off the VR headset in person during the year, it’s not like the pandemic and geopolitical tensions are unpredictable or something. They have every right and every reason to let this in person event go to waste.
I’m with Kuo on this one, keeping competitors from learning details they can already read in the plethora of published Apple patents about the headset (and probably hear from supply chain insiders) is more valuable than demoing it in person to the press or at least kicking off the development of apps for realityOS. There’s always WWDC 2023 for that, it would definitely be good for the headset to go half a year without third party software to speak of.
Again, you’ll hear nothing about realityOS and the Apple Vision headset next week.
Sorry but you can't make something as complicated as a breakthrough VR headset and vrOS when everyone is "working" from home or doing hybrid.
This is why Cook is so adamant about return to office.
Could your customer support rep work from home? Yea.
Could your VR headset team work from home? LOL.