Apple Reality Pro, the company's long-rumored virtual and mixed-reality headset, is delayed once again.
As reported by Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, the company has reportedly chosen to delay the announcement of the headset from a planned event in April until its annual Worldwide Developer Conference in June. The original plan was to unveil the hardware and software consumer experience at a standalone event and then talk about the developer tools at WWDC. Now, Apple plans to do everything at its developer conference.
According to the report, the company is also delaying the unveiling due to product testing showing that "both hardware and software issues still needed to be ironed out," according to people familiar with the project who asked not to be identified due to its secrecy.
Dan Riccio — Apple’s former senior vice president of Hardware Engineering who now holds a secretive role at the company and works on both its VR, AR, and mobility ambitions, “has become increasingly involved in the endeavor in recent weeks as the company looks to resolve remaining issues."
Apple Reality Pro is set to be a beast
The most recent rumors of the headset say that "the headset’s FaceTime software will realistically render a user’s face and full body in virtual reality. Those avatars will allow two people — each with an Apple headset — to communicate and feel like they’re in the same room. The technology differs from virtual meeting rooms on Meta’s headset, which creates a more cartoon-like avatar of the user."
Another recent leak said that the battery for the Reality Pro headset will not actually be connected to the headset itself but live as an external battery pack users will clip onto their pants. Despite it being external, it's expected to be quite large and still only provide around two hours of battery life.
The Reality Pro headset is expected to cost somewhere around $3000, with a cheaper non-pro version being released in 2024 or 2025.
