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After years of rumours, we’ve never been closer to announcing Apple’s first VR/AR headset. Apple has presented the product to its board of directors, a sign of an imminent launch.
With WWDC 2022 less than a month away, American journalist Mark Gurmann reports that Apple’s virtual reality / augmented reality (VR / AR) headset is at a more than advanced stage of design — not to say that he is ready -, since he was presented to the board of directors of Tim Cook’s firm. An additional indication auguring an imminent launch.
Ready for Apple, but not yet for the public?
This kind of presentation to a management committee only bodes well for the release of a product. As the journalist of Bloombergit is common for Apple to carry out this type of demonstration on the eve of the release of one of its products – the firm had done it in particular before introducing Siri on its iPhone 4S a little more than ten years ago. years.
But that does not mean that the helmet will be unveiled to the general public during the June 6 keynote. The WWDC meeting is generally not the time when Apple presents products, but rather when the various new software products are unveiled. In this regard, it is not impossible that we have a first glimpse of what will officiate in the virtual reality helmet. The system is currently nicknamed rOS, a name that is obviously not official.
After the iPhone, iPad and Mac, virtual reality will be available on a headset, the first from the firm.
A niche product
This first VR / AR headset would only be Apple’s first step into this segment. However, it would not be for the general public as is the case with the rest of the Apple devices. It is rumored that this first product would cost more than $2,000. We are far from the prices displayed by a Meta Quest 2 or even a Valve Index. By offering a helmet combining two technologies, it is impossible for Apple to charge prices in tune with the helmets currently available on the market. Added to this is a supposedly impressive technical sheet, since it would have two Oled tiles inside the helmet as well as an M1 chip to animate it.
This first foray into the field of mixed reality should be completed over the next few years with the release of an augmented reality headset (responding to the code name N421). It will be a turning point for Apple, since it will be a new “major” product in its catalog, which had not happened since the release of the Apple Watch in 2015.