Don’t expect to see Apple’s VR/AR headset at WWDC this year

Apple still has too much work to do on its Mixed Reality headset to show it off at WWDC next month. That’s according to supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a great track record when it comes to Apple news and predictions.

Kuo says that mass production of the mixed reality headset is still a ways off. Apple wouldn’t want to give the competition any ideas, so it is going to delay any launches or reveals for the time being.

That also extends to realityOS, the operating system that will run the headset. realityOS has been trademarked in multiple countries by a supposed Apple shell company, as an unreleased product.

That’s probably a wise take from Kuo, especially his second tweet which says that showing off the device too early will just enable competitors to clone the design.

That sentiment is also shared by prominent blogger and startup-whisperer, Robert Scoble, who thinks WWDC is going to be for setting up the software and development environment for the AR/VR headset to shine.

He thinks we’re going to have to wait until January 2023 to get a glimpse of the headset. Apple defined a generation by releasing the iPhone at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) all those years ago. Releasing their mixed reality headset at the same show would fit Apple’s history.

If Scoble is correct, expect spatial computing to have center stage at WWDC, even if the hardware it will eventually run won’t be in attendance. Apple might be relatively late to the AR/VR space, but it’s about to take it by storm.

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Joe Rice-Jones

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