Due to the pandemic, all presentations went online
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple intends to announce a mixed reality headset – the company’s first major innovation since 2015 – within a few months.
Apple will showcase the largest product in recent years at a live event with employees, partners, and the media
The source adds that Apple is planning a major press conference inviting employees, partners, and media representatives. Apple last held a major event with invited people in September 2019, after which due to the pandemic, presentations went online.
Bloomberg previously reported that the first mixed reality headset will be very expensive and targeted at developers. Sales of the device, according to Apple itself, will not be high. The source also claims that the company plans to launch this product as early as next year. It may pre-announce the headset this year to give developers the time they need. Apple took a similar step by announcing its own Apple M1 platform for Mac a few months before the first SoC-based computers were released. This allowed the developers to prepare their applications.
The headset is rumored to include dual 8K displays, eye tracking, and over a dozen hand tracking cameras. The headset will be a direct competitor to solutions like Facebook’s Oculus Rift, which is primarily used for gaming.
After the first headset, Apple plans to release a more mainstream product with augmented reality. However, Bloomberg believes that it will be several years before the appearance of Apple Glasses.