The Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, has come and gone along with no news of or hints at Apple’s much-anticipated high-performance mixed-reality headset. You would think a global event dedicated to showcasing the world’s best tech would’ve been a great place for the company to reveal its latest innovation. But that isn’t the Apple way. The company likes all the attention to itself.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman – someone with a decent track record when it comes to the fruit company – Apple plans to unveil its new headset before its World Wide Developers Conference in June.
Apple’s Reality Pro implies a Reality casual
The announcement and release timelines are very much subject to change. There’s still time for the company to squeeze in another delay before it is supposed to announce the device.
Gurman says Apple has already put the device into the hands of a few “high-profile software developers” for testing purposes. Because it’s no good having a great product if there aren’t also great apps for it.
As we’ve mentioned previously, Apple is likely to brand its goggles ‘Reality Pro’, marking them as a mixed-reality headset. It will likely be capable of displaying a completely virtual reality or a live video feed with virtual elements overlaid. It will also use a completely custom operating system (duh) which Gurman says the company will call xrOS.
Knowing Apple, it won’t be cheap. Maybe that’s where Reality casual, or the second trademark ‘Reality One’, comes in — as a pared-back, cheaper device. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait long for the next one, whenever it may come.
If the American giant does manage to get its headset out this year, it will likely be to the detriment of the rest of its product lines. The updates seen in those products might just be incremental performance updates. This is the company’s first brand-new product since it first launched the Apple Watch in 2015. It’ll want to get it right.
The iPad, Apple Watch, Airpods, and iPhones have all had sizable updates in the last 12 months. Apple probably won’t mind them taking a back seat while it focuses on something new for a change.
Besides, even if the next iPhone only changes its charge port, people will still flock to it.
Source: Bloomberg
