Apple shows MR headset to executives ahead of rumored June unveiling

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited March 2023
Apple's executives have been given a demonstration of the inbound mixed reality headset at Apple Park, a report claims, months before its expected public unveiling.




The long-rumored VR headset is believed to be on the way, with a potential launch during this summer's WWDC. To maximize the chance of a great launch, Apple first has to get its top management onboard with the product.

In a presentation months ahead of WWDC, Apple arranged a gathering of its top 100 executives at Apple Park's Steve Jobs Theater in the last week. According to Mark Gurman's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg, the gathering was a "key milestone" that was meant to rally the top brass ahead of time.

Though some senior executives have seen the headset over the years, they have been small in scale and not really presentations of fully-formed products. The Steve Jobs Theater gathering was more of an actual preview, described by attendees as "polished, glitzy, and exciting."

While the event is a good sign for the launch, Apple is apparently striking a "realistic tone within the company" that it won't be a hit right out of the gate, and that the first version could be a "dud" compared to other products in the lineup. Even so, it is thought that whatever Apple releases will make it a market leader within months.

The "dud" description is in part due to some problematic areas of its design, including its infamous $3,000 price tag and its use of an external battery, which testers found uncomfortable and required replacement every few hours. The lack of defined killer apps and limited media content are also a possible cause for concern.

The launch this summer is also allegedly against the wishes of Apple's industrial design team, which would prefer to release AR glasses instead of a more conventional headset. However, managerial concerns to release a product in the category won over CEO Tim Cook in the end.

Read on AppleInsider
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 41
    eriamjheriamjh Posts: 1,625member
    This product needs at least one killer app that is super fun or useful to justify its existence.   Without it, it will just be a white elephant.  

    I hope Apple knows what it is doing.  
    dewmewatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 41
    Due to the recent mendacities of the establishment I will never buy one of these. I have removed wifi from my home and my kids are watching DVDs. I am strongly considering going back to a flip phone as well after having an iphone since the 3g. 
    byronlwilliamlondonbeowulfschmidt
  • Reply 3 of 41
    I now believe that Steve’s rare cancer was no accident. Gates & his friends were responsible. 
    williamlondon
  • Reply 4 of 41
    larryjwlarryjw Posts: 1,031member
    If Apple wants to sell the device, a killer app is required and a five year interest free loan payment offer.

    But further, I don't know the role the other execs have. They likely will have some feedback which would inform the others. 

    Tho too late if the release is at WWDC, I can see their respective teams getting a shot at developing for this device. 

    edited March 2023 watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 41
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 2,631member
    The whole thing sounds very un-apple. 

    Be interesting to see how this shakes out. 

    Would be great if Apple had a sub brand to test the market with. Don’t sully the Apple brand with possible duds. 

    Heck, it would be better if it was branded Beats than Apple if this is how they’re approaching it. 
    DooofusCluntBaby92williamlondonpulseimagesuraharawatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 41
    Due to the recent mendacities of the establishment I will never buy one of these. I have removed wifi from my home and my kids are watching DVDs. I am strongly considering going back to a flip phone as well after having an iphone since the 3g. 
    No wifi? Are posting this via carrier pigeon?
    JapheyCluntBaby92roundaboutnowlarryjwiOS_Guy80uraharadewmewatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 41
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 2,631member
    Due to the recent mendacities of the establishment I will never buy one of these. I have removed wifi from my home and my kids are watching DVDs. I am strongly considering going back to a flip phone as well after having an iphone since the 3g. 
    Interesting. I don’t think I could do that myself. But I personally know multiple families that have done this. The result has been stronger marriages, better relationships with and among the kids, and overall more peace and happiness. 

    My own parents did this for about 8 years. Whenever I would visit, we’d enjoy conversation, taking walks around the mountainside, playing games, and watching DVDs. Everything felt… simpler. More peaceful. Better even. 

    Then it was back to the rat race when I got home. 

    Kudos to you sir. 
    byronlwilliamlondonDooofuswatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 41
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 2,631member
    Still scratching my head with this. 

    It has “throw a bunch of stuff at the wall and see what sticks” written all over it. 

    That is soooo not Apple, which is notoriously well managed and says no to a million things before saying yes to one. 

    Apple will foil for years on end to mail something and only when they are 100% certain that no one could possibly do any better, they prep the market and launch with a resounding impact. Major success and even segment redefinition follows. 

    This…is not that. 

    This is what a Microsoft or Google would do. Not Apple. Tech executive focus groups now, surrounded by manipulative upscale trimmings? Strange days. 

    Hopefully either this rumor is false - or this is one of the things Apple says no to. 
    edited March 2023 CluntBaby92williamlondonnubusjas99watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 41
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 2,631member
    Due to the recent mendacities of the establishment I will never buy one of these. I have removed wifi from my home and my kids are watching DVDs. I am strongly considering going back to a flip phone as well after having an iphone since the 3g. 
    No wifi? Are posting this via carrier pigeon?

    could be Ethernet. It’s still a thing. 

    That or cellular data connection. 

    edited March 2023 byronlwilliamlondonDooofuswatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 41
    y2any2an Posts: 186member
    Or is this a developer’s prototype to kick off innovation at WWDC? Like the Mac mini with an A series chip kicked off the transition to Apple silicon. Then also the price would make sense. Not intended for consumers. 
    radarthekatrezwitsmuthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 41
    hydrogenhydrogen Posts: 314member
    I would like to live in an alternative world where SJ, still alive, would make the presentation .....
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 41
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,767member
    Every time Apple releases a new product, it is met with laughter, doubt, and confusion by the outside world. Now it seems that even Apple’s own fans are having these reactions…about a product that doesn’t even exist yet. It’s almost like the people that should know better, still don’t. 

    So, to all you people that should know better…why not withhold judgment until the device is actually released before dismissing it based solely on rumors? 

    Remember the only reason the iPhone exists is because Jobs was trying to make the iPad.

    Chill out. Everything is going to work out.

    edited March 2023 StrangeDaysiOS_Guy80fastasleepradarthekatjas999secondkox2badmonkrundhvidmuthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 41
    BiC said:
    I'm going to buy a set - NOT open it - and sell it in twenty years from launch day for $300,000 plus inflation.  I'm not JOKiNG.  I have a WiFE and a MiSTRESS to have real fun with.
    People that brag usually just play with themselves.
    StrangeDayswilliamlondoniOS_Guy80CloudTalkinwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 41
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,821member

    The "dud" description is in part due to some problematic areas of its design, including its infamous $3,000 price tag and its use of an external battery, which testers found uncomfortable and required replacement every few hours. The lack of defined killer apps and limited media content are also a possible cause for concern.
    How could the price possibly be “infamous” when it’s 100% speculative? It’s a rumor and likely bogus — Apple isn’t going to leak pricing info to 100 executives unrelated to the project months in advance of launch. That simply isn’t how Apple has ever operated. 

    Why are we not being more critical of this and similar rumors? You’re framing dubious claims as facts.
    edited March 2023 williamlondonfastasleepDooofusmuthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 41
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,821member
    Due to the recent mendacities of the establishment I will never buy one of these. I have removed wifi from my home and my kids are watching DVDs. I am strongly considering going back to a flip phone as well after having an iphone since the 3g. 
    I now believe that Steve’s rare cancer was no accident. Gates & his friends were responsible. 
    What is this gibberish?
    eriamjhwilliamlondonRonnnieOiOS_Guy80fastasleepradarthekat9secondkox2mainyehcblastdoorurahara
  • Reply 16 of 41
    It seems they have started allowing chat bots to make comments
    larryjwwilliamlondonpulseimages9secondkox2mainyehcuraharawatto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 41
    larryjwlarryjw Posts: 1,031member
    It seems they have started allowing chat bots to make comments
    If ChatGPT had generated the comments, they would have been more intelligent.
    9secondkox2badmonkRudeBoyRudymainyehcblastdoorwatto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 41
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,189member
    eriamjh said:
    This product needs at least one killer app that is super fun or useful to justify its existence.   Without it, it will just be a white elephant.  

    I hope Apple knows what it is doing.  
    Killer apps in the VR/AR space already exist, but they've been dead in the water because of lousy hardware.
    9secondkox2RudeBoyRudywatto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 41
    nubusnubus Posts: 341member
    Japhey said:
    Every time Apple releases a new product, it is met with laughter, doubt, and confusion by the outside world. 
    There have been many terrible launches. Some never recovered.
    • iPhone 1 didn't sell and got a price cut by 33% (!) after 3 months while the base model was removed.
    • Lisa (2700 ended in a landfill)
    • G4 Cube failed on so many levels and then got repeated by the Trash Mac Pro which also failed.
    • AppleWatch 0 failed (series 0 was sold as a fashion statement with celebrities and fashion designers). Refocused to be about health made it a success.
    • Pippin, Newton, eMate, OpenDoc (did attend the press briefing in London and Apple didn't believe it would fly), AOCE (PowerTalk), iPod HiFi, and the car that never happened. There have been numerous failures.
    • Rhapsody - it was only around 10.4 that Mac OS X started really working.
    • iPod was right. Sure the FireWire was strange but navigation, storage, sync, charging using data cable,... it was perfect from day 1.
    • iPad... same - as a surf + reading tablet with all-day battery at a time when iPhone had a small screen and laptops did 3 hours on a charge.
    • AirPods - probably one of the best products ever by Apple. So well designed and integrated.
    I really like the idea of Google Glass but a visor? Apple demand that employees are on-site 3 days per week to interact. They have designed their HQ to create interactions. No capes and no visors :-)
    rezwits9secondkox2badmonkmuthuk_vanalingamCloudTalkinlkruppwatto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 41
    The majority of products Apple releases are for the masses and this is not. Besides the Mac Pro this will be Apple’s most niche product ever. 
    9secondkox2watto_cobra
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