Vision Pro

There’s been a lot of speculation about the timing of Apple’s mixed-reality headset launch – and in particular whether the company will announce it at WWDC 2022.

The smart money seems to be saying that it won’t go on sale until next year, with some suggesting that this means no mention at WWDC. Personally, though, I don’t buy this argument …

Rumors about Apple’s mixed reality headset have been gaining traction in recent months, but the company’s plans on when this device will be announced remain unclear. Despite recent references to Apple’s new “realityOS” platform, the official announcement of the headset still seems a long way off – at least that’s what analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says.

Earlier this year, a few developers found references to a platform named “RealityOS” in App Store logs. This, of course, corroborated multiple rumors about Apple working on a new mixed reality headset. Now, thanks to a new “RealityOS” trademark, we may have a clue that this new AR/VR headset from Apple is indeed coming soon.

Rendering by Antonia De Rosa. Edited by 9to5Mac.

In a follow-up report on the challenges Apple has been facing in creating its mixed reality headset, The Information corroborates details we’ve learned from Bloomberg in recent years. But it also digs deeper into the problems the project has faced from Jony Ive to the wearable’s power, battery, heat, cost, and even an alleged lack of discipline from the AR/VR team.

According to a new report from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, Apple has recently demoed its upcoming AR/VR headset device to the Apple company board of directors. This is a good indicator that the project is at an ‘advanced stage’ and that a public product launch is imminent.

Bloomberg previously reported that a consumer launch for the headset is planned for 2023 but an early announcement of the device is likely. Today’s report also said that the development of the headset’s operating system has ramped up in recent months.

Rendering by Antonia De Rosa. Edited by 9to5Mac.

Since beginning its efforts in 2015, Apple’s work on a mixed reality headset has been hit with a range of challenges that have pushed back the potential launch date by years. Now a new report from The Information shares what the major roadblocks have been from inside sources.

Apple has today been granted a patent for a graphical display concept it calls virtual paper, and two things struck me about it – one about its origins, the other about what it may tell us about future Apple design language.

The patent is for a visual representation of paper in three-dimensional form, which is, of course, the type of user interface most applicable to the upcoming Apple mixed-reality headset …

Apple has reportedly been working on new devices with augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) capabilities for a long time, but it’s still unclear when these products will hit the market. While some analysts believed that Apple’s mixed reality headset would be released in late 2022, analyst Jeff Pu of Haitong International Securities says that the product may be delayed until 2023.

Ahead of the rumored Apple headset debut, Meta has a change of plans for their own AR/VR devices. After many roadblocks, Facebook’s parent company has scrapped the idea of making its own operating system from scratch. 

As reports indicate Apple is planning to launch its first AR/VR headset as soon as later this year or in 2023, Microsoft is reportedly revamping its own roadmap to better compete. According to a new report from Insider, citing an internal roadmap, “Microsoft’s mixed reality business is undergoing a major technology shift.”

The looming Apple Headset has started to dominate the rumor mill, with expectations heating up ahead of a potential announcement sometime this year or in 2023. But while we already know many specifications of the headset, one thing that we don’t know is what it will be called.

Turns out 2022 may not be the year of Apple’s VR/AR headset after all. Bloomberg reports that Apple is facing multiple hardware and software challenges that could delay the debut until 2023.

Apple is widely expected to take the wraps off of its first mixed reality headset this year, with a focus on augmented reality and virtual reality experiences. While many companies – including Meta – are doubling down on the idea of a “metaverse,” a new report today indicates that Apple’s focus is quite the opposite.

As rumors regarding Apple’s AR/VR headset gain traction ahead of an expected release this year, Facebook parent company Meta has reportedly hit a roadblock in its own VR/AR software efforts. According to a new report from The Information, Meta has halted its efforts to build a new software operating system to power its headsets.