Apple WWDC 2023 is where the new virtual reality headset rumors face a reality test
Apple fans are looking forward to the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference Monday (June 5) to find out just how much of the rumored new products are actually ready to hit the shelves.
Following a keynote speech at 10am Pacific Time, many more highlights are scheduled through June 9, including—but not limited to—design awards distribution, labs to learn app-making, interactions and Q&As with experts, and more. But what’s got enthusiasts fired up is the hardware that’s rumored to be on display—specifically, a brand new AR/VR headset.
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The entire conference will be available online for all developers, with a special in-person experience at Apple Park.
Product of interest: Apple’s first mixed reality headset
Apple aficionados are buzzed about a possible debut of the company’s AR/VR headset, which has been years in the making, at WWDC 2023.
Apple’s acquisitions in the virtual reality space, coupled with the trademark filing for “Reality”-themed names, has signaled that the Cupertino giant is up to something. Now, there are more details available than ever.
Initially meant to look like innocuous everyday glasses, the device has morphed into something ski goggle-like with a separate battery pack, Bloomberg reports. It’ll run on a powerful software called xrOS, and be controlled by gaze and hand gestures.
But sleek style aside, the product apparently one-ups existing headsets on functionality, too. According to Vox, the device has a “copresence” feature that allows someone wearing the headset to share what they’re looking at a fellow headset user. The headset is also meant to feature exterior screens so the eyes of the wearer are visible to those in their proximity. While this might sound creepy, it’s apparently a feature meant to make the device more social and less dystopian.
Apple wants the product to become a mainstay for everything from gaming to workouts to FaceTime Calls, among other things, according to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, who spoke to those working on the project under the condition of anonymity.
The king of closed-loop ecosystems when it comes to tech companies, Apple intends to port several of its existing iOS apps to the new device, according to Bloomberg. Last year, a New York Times report said Jon Favreau of behind Iron Man and Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian fame will make content for the device.
The company is yet to divulge any official information.
Quotable: Apple could take AR/VR mainstream
“Although the lackluster uptake of the AR/VR market and the transitory enthusiasm about the Metaverse create a backdrop of challenges, it is instructive to remember that Apple invents entire new categories that have the potential to disrupt existing markets and create entirely new markets.” —Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan in a May 24 client note
Apple’s AR/VR headset, by the digits
According to Bloomberg’s Gurman, Apple has made significant investments in the headset, and it’s expecting big rewards from it, too.
$1 billion: Annual budget for the project
1,000: Engineers working on it
$3,000: How much Apple’s headset is expected to cost. For comparison, Meta on June 1 unveiled its new-and-improved rival product Quest 3, starting at $499. But Apple’s specs are far superior. And its costing is not so exorbitant as compared to Microsoft’s $3,500 HoloLens or the $3,299 Magic Leap 2.
900,000: How many units Apple estimates it could sell a year out the gate, according to Bloomberg’s Gurman. The estimate has been drastically reduced from an initial 3 million.
$25 billion: How much the headset could contribute annually to the company’s revenue eventually, according to Gurman’s reporting
Some other things: MacBooks and Apple Watches
💻 Several refreshed, new MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, and iMacs
⌚Apple watch is poised to get its biggest update ever
Fun Fact: Everywhere WWDC 2023 attendees are coming from
Apple, with Flighty, made a user-updated map which lets attendes plug in their flight details to see who is coming from where. At the time of publishing, over 150 people were flying in from 33 different countries.
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