Apple to unveil new AR/VR headset later this year, claims Bloomberg

Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman has claimed that Apple’s long-rumored AR/VR mixed-reality headset will be announced sometime in the “next several months” at an in-person special event, marking Apple’s first major new product since the Apple Watch in 2015.

Reports have suggested that the device, which until now had been rumored to arrive in 2022, is said to feature two ultra-high-resolution 8K displays with a “bevy” of other features, including advanced eye-tracking technology and the ability to pass video of the real world through the visor and display it to the user, offering a “mixed-reality effect.”

The Information claimed in February to have seen secret internal imagery of the headset last year as the device entered the late prototyping stage, reporting that it would offer a “sleek, curved visor attached to the face by a mesh material and swappable headbands,” as shown in the concepts in this story, created by Antonio De Rosa.

Given the scale of the announcement, Gurman says Apple is aiming to hold off from making the announcement until it can do so in front of a live audience.

Sometime in the next several months, the company is poised to announce a mixed reality headset, its first major new device since 2015. If possible, Apple won’t want to make such a critical announcement at an online event. It wants employees, the media, its partners and developers in the room.

Image: Antonio De Rosa

Recently we’ve seen reports claiming the headset will feature a total of 15 camera modules, which will enable advanced AR and “innovative biometrics,” as well as rumors suggesting Apple will price the product around $3,000, way above the cost of the competition, with Apple supposedly setting its sights on shipping around 250,000 units of the device in its first year of release.

Images: Antonio De Rosa