We’re deep in the hype phase for Apple’s long-rumored mixed reality headset. There’s a good reason for that.
For starters, we’ve been hoping the past few years would finally be the year of the headset. It’s been in development that long. More importantly, the Apple headset reveal is actually imminent now.
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Apple is holding its annual Worldwide Developer Conference keynote on Monday, June 5. That’s the first Apple event of 2023 and where Apple will first officially acknowledge the headset.
That’s based on reporting consensus among major news outlets including Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal. Notably, Apple has not “leaked” to a single reporter that the WWDC keynote will not include the headset.
Additionally, Apple has invited a number of experts in the virtual reality field to attend the conference keynote. Apple tends to do this when it was members of the press that don’t typically cover the company to have access to a new and relevant product. For example, Apple invited extreme sport experts who typically do not cover the company to the Apple Watch Ultra event last September.
Frankly, it would be more surprising for folks if the know if Apple didn’t unveil the mixed reality headset on Monday than if they did. That’s a good place to be for anyone intrigued by new Apple product categories.
What’s less certain is when Apple will actually start selling the mixed reality headset. The headset’s rumored $3000 price tag might alleviate the concern for people who might otherwise consider an Apple AR/VR device.
But for those who are just begging Apple to take their money, there is no consensus on when Apple will actually release the headset. Reports have ranged from late June or July to 2023 Q4 or 2024 Q1 or Q2. A launch much later than this summer is completely precedented for Apple. New product categories including the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch can be unveiled months ahead of launch.
That’s because Apple doesn’t risk hurting sales of a product it already sells, and potential customers can avoid purchasing a product from a competitor. Media reports have driven the hype cycle for the Apple headset so far, and a launch that could be almost a year out will only continue to build intrigue.
Apple Watch is the most recent example of this strategy. Apple unveiled the product in September 2014 at the iPhone 6 event before holding a second keynote in March 2015 to share additional details. The first watches didn’t ship until late April.
With this in mind, it’s completely possible that Apple could unveil its mixed reality headset, call it Reality Pro, detail its xrOS platform, and still not release pricing. This hopefully will not happen, however, as Apple only saved the full price range of its watches for the second event. The starting price was included in the original announcement.
In summary, we can expect to see Apple’s mixed reality headset be officially announced on Monday, June 5, during the WWDC keynote that starts at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET. The Apple “Reality Pro” mixed reality headset isn’t likely to go on sale the same day, however. Reporting generally points to a late 2023/early 2024 launch for the product.
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