The much-rumoured and long-awaited Apple AR/VR headset is thought to be in the running for a WWDC23 announcement in June. As the company gets ready for that unveiling it’s now been reported that it has shown the product off to a group of executives at the company’s Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino.
Part of the Apple Park complex, the Steve Jobs Theater is where Apple holds all of its big events, or at least it did before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. That perhaps highlights how big of an occasion this was for Apple, with the company’s 100 highest-ranking executives said to have been in attendance. This was their chance to get a look at what, presumably, was the finished product. The one that Apple hopes to sell for upwards of $3,000.
“Polished, glitzy, and exciting”
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, writing as part of the weekly Power On newsletter, says that the demonstrations “were polished, glitzy and exciting” unlike previous ones. They were focused on ensuring that the project was greenlit, But that’s all done and dusted and now it’s about showing progress and the product that will hit Apple Store shelves.
However, Gurman reports that despite the glamour, Apple and its executives are well aware of the product’s issues. Namely, the new market that it’s entering.
“With the Mac, iPod, iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad, the company was essentially creating a better version of a product that people were familiar with,” Gurman notes. “With the headset, Apple will have to explain to consumers why they’d want to own such a product at all.”
That’s possibly going to be key here, with Apple entering the market sooner than it would normally. It was late to the smartphone game, then the tablet market, and wearables. That isn’t the case with its headset, believed to be called Reality Pro.
If Apple is going to announce the headset during the WWDC event that means the first week or so of June. It isn’t clear when it will actually be available to buy, however.
