Apple is “nearly ready” to launch its first mixed-reality headset, according to online reports. The headset, which is likely to be introduced under the brand name Reality Pro, has been under development for about seven years, apparently, and seen multiple delays for various reasons. Until recently, it was speculated to launch in January 2023 with shipping to start later in the year. Apple seems on course to miss that window as well.
Now, Cupertino is “aiming” to unveil the Reality Pro headset in the spring of 2023, ahead of its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is reporting. Shipping is still pegged for later this year. The headset has already been shared with a small number of “high-profile” software developers for testing, the report adds.
But even more importantly, Apple seems to be banking heavily on this headset as its “hot new introduction for this year” roping in resources from several other hardware and software departments inside the company, possibly to make it happen on schedule, this time. This could mean other projects could take backseat and the report does highlight the exact thing saying Apple will have “fewer major breakthroughs to show off this year” across both software and hardware.
The next major updates to iOS/iPadOS and macOS (iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS 14) are said to incorporate fewer major changes than what were planned originally even as Apple looks to expedite work (and focus) on the Reality Pro’s own operating system, xrOS.
The upcoming 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, will likewise, be “marginal” leaps from existing models with a similar design and customary chip upgrade (to M2 Pro and M2 Max) while the long-rumoured high-end Mac Pro with 48 CPU cores and 152 graphics cores has apparently been shelved altogether.
Gurman expects no major changes coming by way of the iPad and Apple Watch line as well this year though the iPhone 15 could bring in some welcome changes including Dynamic Island across all models (this is exclusive to iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max in the current generation), haptic volume buttons on the pro models and switch to USB Type-C.
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