Apple is preparing the launch of its first mixed reality viewer, which could even be presented during the month of June during its classic conference for developers. During the last months, even years, leakers and analysts have been sharing information that allows us to get an idea of ​​​​how the viewer will work.
Recently, the LeaksApplePro account has shared a realistic design of the glasses that could be very similar to the final device. Its development is clearly influenced by the image of the announcement of the developer event, which will be next 5th June.
The device, with a rather simple appearance, moves in line with other designs chosen by Apple for its devices. Remarkably reminiscent of the company’s headband-shaped helmets. They also seem less bulky than the vast majority of scopes currently on the market.
Despite the fact that Apple is expected to show the glasses next June, and to start marketing them before the end of the year, analyst Ming Chi Kuo, one of the most reliable as regards the apple company, recently , points out that It is not ruled out that the product may eventually be delayed.
Doubts with the product
This would be due, according to Kuo in a tweet, to the “little optimism” of the company with the possibilities that the product revolutionizes the market. Mass manufacturing would have been delayed until mid-year.
Because Apple isn’t very optimistic about the AR/MR headset announcement recreating the astounding “iPhone moment,” the mass production schedule for assembly has been pushed back by another 1-2 months to mid-to-late 3Q23. The delay also adds uncertainty to whether the new device…
— Ming-Chi Kuo (@mingchikuo) March 30, 2023
This is not the first to report Apple’s low expectations with this first viewer. According to recent information from the ‘Financial Times’, workers from the industrial and design teams recommended that the company wait a little longer before announcing the launch of its next glasses. However, both Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, and Jeff Williams, the company’s head of operations, have decided that the launch will take place this year.
According to the leaks, the viewer will have a high cost, possibly higher than the $3,000, which will surely be more outside the United States. In addition, it will have the complicated mission of competing in a market that, up to now, has not been able to convince ordinary users, such as the large virtual reality and augmented reality viewers. We find that the apple company is trying, for the first time, to break through in a market that is not consolidated. Something that did not happen with the iPhone, iPod or wireless headphones.
According to a study by Counterpoint Research recently cited by ‘The New York Times’, the company is expected to sell half a million glasses in one year. Meanwhile, expectations with the first Apple Watch, the company’s smartwatch, were 40 million units.